That same day
Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the lake. Such great crowds gathered
around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood
on the beach. And he told them many things in parables, saying: ‘Listen! A
sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the
birds came and ate them up. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did
not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of
soil. But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root,
they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and
choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a
hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. Let anyone with ears listen!’
After hearing this gospel, my natural
inclination is to examine myself and try to determine: what kind of soil am I?
Am I the infertile pathway, trampled and worn with too much traffic running
over me? Am I the rocky ground planted with grand plans, exciting ideas and
inspirations that never seem to go anywhere and die quickly when things get
difficult? Am I thorny, proud and cynical, never able to really commit myself
to really believing in anything? Or am I good fertile soil where the planted
seed becomes a dependable source of good fruit or healthy grain?
We all hope we’re in the good rich soil
category; that would be our desire and our intention. However, it’s not that
simple, is it? If I were honest with myself, I would see that I carry within
myself patches of all soil types. I am a microcosm, one that isn’t always being
sustained in a healthy way. Our inner beings are reflections of the world at
large so if we have a tendency to point fingers at the more obvious rocks and
thorns we see ‘out there’, we need to stop and realize that whatever is ‘out
there’ is also ‘in here’. When we look closely at the various soil types
described in the gospel, we can easily identify other people that we think fit
into each category. That’s easy. The difficult trick is to see how we maintain
the same soil conditions in our own hearts.
Funny, isn’t it, how weeds can grow and
flourish anywhere, even in the hard pavement of sidewalks and pathways? Do you
find it easy to identify those weeds in your family or church community? Do you
know of people who are martyrs, ones who do what they are asked but are always
letting others know how busy they are, how much they are doing and how little
thanks they get? These people aren’t always easy to be around. Even though they
are always in service mode, it just doesn’t seem like their service is life
giving. They bring to mind the old adage: the only person who can live with a
martyr is a saint.
Now look within yourself. Do you
allow yourself to be trampled upon and then lay little guilt trips on those
around you? Are you passive aggressive? Do you say yes to every request until
you are worn out, worn down and have little or no time to allow God's water of
life to soak into you? Do you feel like the seeds that do come your way get
pecked away before there’s time for them to take root? Are the seeds that
are able to take root actually weeds of resentment and self-pity poking up
through the hard-pack surface of your heart?
We all have unproductive pathways
running through us that are hardened from constant traffic and busyness. Often,
along the side of the path are little signs that say things like, “Jesus is
coming. Look busy,” or “Everything that you are asked to do is a direct request
from God. If you do it all, maybe God won’t blame you for your failures.” The
trouble with that last one is that we can never do enough. We’re way too busy
to spend time with a loving God and we always feel guilt and pressure to do
more and more. Meanwhile the seeds we receive wither away from lack of care and
we blame others for our weary dryness.
Have you observed spiritual trends and
ideas that have come along and have grabbed the attention of groups of people
causing a great stir of exciting inspiration? Have you then watched these
promising movements eventually die out, leaving people seeking the next latest
and greatest idea or theology to fill the empty gaps? Did you notice that
though these movements seemed promising, they didn’t always inspire people to
go deeper or further than the next spiritual high? You may also have perceived
that some people find it very difficult to adjust to a life where there isn’t
always something exciting and inspiring on the horizon.
Now look within yourself. How many spiritual
books have you read or speakers have you listened to that you just had to share
with other people because the ideas that were expressed were so amazing and
inspiring. How much of any of those inspirations can you actually remember? How
successful were you at taking any of those spiritual precepts and making them a
deep integrated part of your spiritual life? How often did a fantastic
inspiration get completely lost in the grinding heat of everyday life?
We all have patches where the soil is
shallow and where inspiration springs up with great promise but just cannot be
maintained. There is always the hope that the next book or the next homily will
hold the magic key to an amazing spiritual life. We forget that there are no
magic keys; there is only relationship with the Lord. This relationship
requires us to dig deep, plant deep and water often or else our spirituality
remains on the surface, vulnerable to the hot sun and drying winds.
Do you know of people in your community
who always seem to be angry and opposed? It doesn’t matter what the church is
endeavoring to undertake or how it’s trying to encourage growth, these people
have seen it all, seen it fail and know it’s going to fail again. They might be
disillusioned with the system – it’s become too conservative or too liberal.
Things aren’t like the good old days or the church is too slow to change.
There’s always something wrong and always something to criticize.
Now look within yourself. Are there
pockets of disillusionment? Were there times in your life when things didn’t
turn out the way you wanted or expected? Did someone in authority ever hurt
you? Did this cause you to put up walls of cynicism and criticism in order to
protect yourself from further wounds? How often do you find yourself criticizing
and tearing down rather than commending and building up? Is your inclination to
look for the best in people and situations or to expect the worst? We all have
walls of thorny bushes that have been cultivated in order to protect ourselves
from disappointment and wounds but the problem is they also inhibit the
implantation of good seed.
We all have these patches of
unproductive, infertile soil. It’s called being human. We also have areas that
are made of rich loam full of nutrients and life giving minerals. We have soil
that is dry and shallow and soil that produces good abundant spiritual crops,
enough to feed others and ourselves. We have barren stretches of arid desert
and inviting groves of lush fruitful beauty. The point is not to get stuck in the
mud of guilt over the parts of our innermost beings that have resisted the
planting of the seed. The point is to be aware that this journey we are on is the
great Soil Reclamation Project. Bit by bit, little by little, God’s goal is to
reclaim the stony hardness of our hearts and expand our arable and fruitful
land.
May your inner soil be brought back to
the fertility of the First Garden where the earth brought forth vegetation:
plants yielding seed of every kind, and trees of every kind bearing fruit with
the seed in it. (Genesis 1.12)
And may God see that it is good.
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