Thus starts a wonderful parable. I've preached on it several times and so I've looked at if from many angles. It's one of those passages from the Bible that at first, when you first realize you have to preach on it, you panic or roll your eyes because you think "Oh man, how can I look at this in a new way? Everyone knows this already! There's nothing new to say!" But then, like all of the rich texts of the Bible, once you get into it, you find things that you never saw before. I won't keep on preaching here, but this book reminded me of that parable, not just because of the seeds themselves.Seedfolks is lovely story about a garden in a transitional neighborhood in Cleveland. The garden beings as a dumping ground, it's an empty lot where people just dump their garbage. A little Vietnamese girl, grieving on the anniversary of her father's death, decides to plant some bean seeds in this vacant, ugly lot, to honor his memory.
People start noticing. And helping. And planting their own flowers or vegetables. And something beautiful starts to grow, in the ground and in the neighborhood.
The story is told in many voices, each chapter is a different gardener. Their stories are as diverse as their backgrounds, as diverse as what they choose to plant. Some of their stories are heart-breaking, some are funny. I loved listening to this on cd because the readers are fantastic. Great stories, great book.
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