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May, 2006
In early December 2005, the children and RE teachers at the Champlain Valley Unitarian Universalist Society in Middlebury began planning a late-January intergen celebration, designed around the ancient Celtic mid-winter ritual of Imbolc. Imbolc was a tribute to Briget, who, among other responsibilities, was the goddess of new life and poetry. Just as the ancient Celts wrote and shared words in poems and songs to ward off winter’s dark chill and anticipate the coming of spring, we set about to write poems too-- short odes to seeds--those in pots we had planted, and those that were starting to tremble with anticipation in the frozen earth beneath our feet.
Our odes were sacred expressions our deepest longings, written to bless, honor and encourage our seeds to begin their journey out of the cold dark ground towards the sun. Just as the ancient Celts did, we shared our words aloud in the intergen service, along with Celtic-inspired dances that we had practiced. It was a fun and inspiring celebration, in anticipation of the new life that spring would bring.
A few of the childrens’ blessings are printed below.
Oh, Little Seed
by Anonymous
Dear little seed,
I know how harsh the cold underground is,
yet I know that when spring comes
you will have the perfect sanctuary.
And I also know that you will not have
to take refuge in the cold ground again
until winter is aroused.
I am very pleased how patient you are
until your time comes
and you open up
to the gigantic world. |
An Ode to a Seed
by Peter
Oh, little seed
Even though I can’t see you,
I know you are trembling with excitement
under the dark cold earth.
I thank you for waiting patiently
underground
so you can turn into something
beautiful or delicious.
Is it dark and cold and damp?
Don’t worry.
I’ll be with you
every step of the way.
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Dear Seed
by Luca
I worry that you might be
scared and lonely.
You and me together
we can do it!
I’ll help you pop out
and turn into something beautiful
or good to eat.
by Jonah
Oh tiny seed,
even in the cold dark ground
there is a blinding light of hope.
Whatever you may become,
I will be there for you.
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An Ode to a Seed
by Forrest
Oh tiny seed,
trembling in the depths of the earth,
what do you eat within your walls of
frozen dirt?
Build your wall of immunity
and shoot your roots over it when spring comes.
Battle the daggers and swords of the cold
with your pillows and blankets of hope
during the winter months when
Mother Earth is overtaken
and cannot help. |
Poem of the Seed
by Josh
Seed, why don’t you grow in the winter?
I think you are scared.
I know why you are scared.
You live with bugs and moles.
The mole might eat you.
You are waking up.
You are stretching.
You come out busting with life.
Oh Seed
by Jack
Oh, seed,
I am waiting for you
to come up out of the ground.
I am watching you
every day.
Seed, I like you
every day.
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By Zoe
Oh, tiny seed, you wait to be seen
You wonder what it will be like to see the world,
but do I need to ask what it is like down there?
For I have been lonely,
I have been in the dark.
We are both little,
waiting to be seen, to be heard.
Yet we know that soon we shall be seen, heard,
in the spring.
One day soon we shall be bursting with life,
We will be full of energy.
We will be running, jumping, leaping,
each in our own way,
each truly alive with joy.
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A Blessing
by Alexandra
O little seed
Sitting in the dark
Cold earth
The world awaits your coming
As it does your sisters and your brothers,
Your mother and your father.
It is a wonder the world does not
Shudder with joy
Because your time is coming.
Spring is almost here. |
by Isaac
Little seed,
I know you are bursting in excitement
to break out of the dark, cold ground,
and wake up to a bright, big world
in sunlight.
I know you can’t wait
to feel the rain coming down,
and see all the green of spring.
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Oh Little Seed
by Dominique
Oh, little seed,
so small and helpless
in the cold dark winter earth.
But when the spring doth come
you shed your little hard protection
to shoot up through the dirt
to shoot above the ground.
To see what you will become
from a seed to a what? A flower?
A tree? A plant, no doubt,
so beautiful in the summer rays
of life. |
A Blessing
by Sammy
Oh, tiny seed.
I am thanking
you for going to be
something tall and beautiful
or something good to eat.
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