Dispatch from Level 2

By Harriet Claiborne, Lead Formation Leader for Atrium 2 (grades 1-3).

“Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”  —John 12: 24

We return to this parable in atrium two (for 6–9-year-olds) every year, sometimes in Lent and sometimes during the days after Easter, as we wait for Jesus to fill us with new life and new love,as only he can.

The prayer card sits on the shelf all year, but on an appointed day the children sit with me and look at a single seed and three pots planted at different times.

As we dig into the first pot, planted about three days earlier, we see that the seed is there, and just beginning to break apart.

In the second pot, we see not only the seed breaking apart but roots beginning to reach down into the earth.

The last pot already has shoots above the ground, and as we dig into the soil we see larger, stronger roots. The seed has disappeared. A stalk of wheat or a sunflower graces our tray just behind the three pots.

Great excitement builds as we see the change from death into life, and we carefully take a specimen from each pot and lay it on the tray.

“Which is more beautiful?” I ask. “The single seed or this plant? What could Jesus be telling us about the mystery of life and death?”

And so ends another morning in the atrium, with children and adults surrounded by materials, talking about Jesus’ life, death, and Resurrection, plus parables and the liturgy of the church—all calling us to remember Him in the bread and the wine each week.