Prayer: Lord, help me to leave some for others. Amen
Reading: Leviticus 19:9-10 (Click to read text) Stop and GROW: After reading the text, discuss/ponder the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's Book of Faith questions, which are part of Camp Mount Luther's GROW Time with campers. QUESTION 1: What scares, confuses, challenges, or doesn’t make sense to me in this text? QUESTION 2: What delights me in this text or is my favorite part of the story? QUESTION 3: What stories or memories does this text stir in me? QUESTION 4: What is God up to in this text? Reflection: The curriculum on day 4 this summer at camp encourages us to love our family, friends and neighbors. The main text is the first 18 verses of Ruth in which Naomi is left in a foreign land with no husband and no sons, just her daughters-in-law, Orpah and Ruth. We know that story—Orpah stayed in Moab, but Ruth traveled back to Judah with her mother-in-law showing Naomi incredible love. Today we consider another way that we are called to love. One of the annoyances for farmers is deer. As much as we like to see them, they eat a lot of corn. Even before the farmer can harvest the crop, the deer bed down in the middle of the field and munch away. I had a farmer friend in Union County who told me that he always planted 2 or 3 more rows of corn than he needed. Those were for the deer. They have to eat, too. In Leviticus, God instructs farmers when harvesting to leave some of the produce in the field and to leave some of the grapes hanging in the vineyard. Don’t pick it all. Leave some for the poor. And this isn’t just the excess. This is an intentional leaving of crops so that the poor can eat. Leaving behind food that the farmer could harvest and take to market for a profit. How might we find ways to leave some for others? How might we love the poor among us? It would be good for us today to somehow make food available to the poor. Don’t wait for the next community food drive. Let’s make some food available today. --Jim Bricker, Chaplain to Camp Mount Luther’s Summer Staff
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