During the season of Lent, our worship series, All Y’all, invites us to hear the words of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount the way his first followers heard them: not as a list of impossible individual expectations, but as a shared way of life meant to shape a community that can heal the world.
To accompany this season, our suggested companion book will be The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.
At first glance, The Little Prince appears to be a children’s book. Its language is simple. Its illustrations are playful. But readers quickly discover that it asks profoundly adult questions. Through a series of brief encounters, the story explores how grown-ups come to value the wrong things, how power and possession distort relationships, and how love always carries responsibility and risk.
In this way, The Little Prince pairs surprisingly well with the Sermon on the Mount.
The Little Prince is a deceptively simple story that asks adult questions about power, truth, love, and responsibility. During Lent, we’ll read it slowly, alongside Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Mount, letting the story help us notice what we might otherwise miss.
Like Jesus’ teaching, this story does not argue its case. It tells the truth sideways. It invites reflection rather than compliance. And it reminds us that what matters most is often invisible to those who are certain they already understand the world.
Rather than offering a strict reading schedule, we invite you to read this book slowly and lightly during Lent. Some may read it all in a sitting. Others may return to a few chapters again and again. Either approach is faithful. The goal is not completion, but attention.
Throughout the series, themes from the book—seeing clearly, resisting domination, loving without possession, and accepting responsibility for one another—will echo the questions raised in worship. You do not need to read the book to participate fully, but for those who choose to do so, it may offer another way of listening for what Jesus is saying to all y’all together.
This Lent, we invite you to read a story, listen deeply, and practice seeing with the heart.
Here are our planned themes for this series:
| Sundays | Themes |
|---|---|
| February 22 | Misunderstanding and frustration |
| March 1 | Possession versus love |
| March 8 | Responsibility and consequence |
| March 15 | Words, meaning, and trust |
| March 22 | Power and resistance |
| March 29 | The cost of love |
We’ll have a few books available for purchase at $6 each. Additional copies of the paperback edition are available through Amazon for $6. This book may also be available at the local library.
Our Book Club does not meet as a group. However, our weekly messages reference that week’s chapters or themes. You can anticipate spoiler alerts unless you keep up with the pace. You can purchase your own copy or visit your local library.
You can contact our office with questions by phone or simply type your question or enter a prayer request on our website’s homepage — FlintAsburyChurch.org.
Pastor Tommy
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. The Little Prince. Translated by Richard Howard. NY: Harper Collins, 2000.