The Parable of the Sower

Matthew 13: 1-19
1 On that day, Jesus went out of the house and sat down by the sea.

2 Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd stood along the shore.

3 And he spoke to them at length in parables, saying: "A sower went out to sow.

4 And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and birds came and ate it up.

5 Some fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil. It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep,

6 and when the sun rose it was scorched, and it withered for lack of roots.

7 Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it.

8 But some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit, a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.

9 Whoever has ears ought to hear."

(from the New American Bible)

I love to garden, and that's one of the reasons this parable has always appealed to me. I've sowed seeds just to have them eaten by birds, choked by weeds, eaten from below by moles and voles, or just not bloom at all. I've had my garden turned into a buffet for rabbits and deer, and I've watched a leek mysteriously get pulled underground, probably by the aforementioned vole gang. Occasionally I have been rewarded by some really awesome plants, especially hot peppers and tomatoes. I admit I plant mostly a salsa garden, with a few leafy things thrown in for variety. I'm an organic gardener; I have no use for toxic pesticides, and think they are absolutely unnecessary. But that's another matter entirely.

Like a garden, it is necessary at times to nourish our faith. Life has a way of robbing your soul of nourishment. We rush out the door in the morning so intent on getting to a job we hate that we miss the dew on the grass. Or at dinner we can't slow down so we have to get fast food to nourish us. Even at night, an ideally tranquil time, we are busy preparing for the next day when we haven't even finished the one we are in!

Why is that? Do we really have a taskmaster before us making us do all the things we think we need to do to be successful in our life? I doubt it. What we are really doing is running. Always running. Not towards something though, but away from something: our life.

Our life isn't supposed to be a series on unconnected moments that take us from one "obligation" to the next. That doesn't have any real purpose except to get us from one place in our life to place, but not to a destination.

That's what counts. A destination in life; a purpose. Some of us know what it is. I'll be perfectly honest with you. What my destination is, I haven't a clue. Somehow along the way the seeds of my life got tangled up in the thorns of something called lupus and my life hasn't been the same since. Lately though, I have realized that, just as I can rip away the thorns from the good plants in the garden, I can prune the thorns from the path and clear it. Hey, I can even forge a new one if I want! All I had to do was open up my ears and listen.

God is always there beside us, even if we have shoved Him to the sidelines in our search for a "meaningful life". We don't hear Him because of the sounds of the noises we have created in our pursuit of life, liberty and the pursuit of stuff.

On your next day "off" really take it off and listen. Don't set the alarm, just wake up when your body is ready. Don't turn on any radio or television or CD, but listen to the sounds of the world around you. Somewhere in there is the voice you have missed listening to, whether you have realized it or not. When you finally hear that voice, listen. Just listen.

And on that note, I'll leave you with my favorite gardening prayer:

The Gardener's Prayer by Karel Capek

Oh Lord, grant that it in some way may rain every day, say from about midnight until three o'clock in the morning...but You see, it must be gentle and warm so that it can soak in;

Grant that at the same time it would not rain on Campion, Alyssum, Helianthemum, Lavender and other plants which You in Your infinite wisdom know are drought-loving plants...I will write their names on a bit of paper if You like...and grant that the sun may shine the whole day long, but not everywhere (not for instance on Spirea, or on Gentian, Plantain-lily or Rhododendron), and not too much...that there be plenty of dew and little wind, enough worms, no plant lice and snails, no mildew, and that once a week thin, liquid manure and guano may fall from Heaven.