Happy Gardening

Growing up on a farm in the fertile fields of Illinois, I am not very able to relate to the parable of the seeds today. The idea that there are wimpy growing conditions, with rocks and dry ground and shallow top soil is not in my experience.

Did you have to grow something in elementary school in a paper cup? I grew a corn stalk in a Mason glass jar once. It was scary the way it shot up and the roots immediately filled the jar with their tendrils. I also think of the times I have seen seeds take hold in the cracks in sidewalks, bricks and stone walls and grow entire trees where they were not intended. Kudzu also comes to mind as an out of control growth. So when Jesus talks about seeds hitting poor soil and dying, I have to think hard of somewhere dry and rocky, with shallow topsoil, somewhere not Kentucky for sure.

In fact, agricultural parables probably elude most of us in the 21st century—we are not agricultural people. We may have our gardens and lawns, but very few of us till a field, plant and harvest wheat every year. As agricultural parables go, however, this one is straightforward, and in the Matthew version, comes with its own interpretation. That seeds that die or that only grow a little are like people who do not heed the word of God, or heed it and do not let it sink into their souls. They are not serious about their faith, they do not nurture it: water it, weed it, tend to it in the way that provides growth for their souls and a relationship with the Divine.

If I were writing this parable for today, what images could we use to speak to people of the new millennium? What do we plant but allow to die? How do we not nurture? Is it like a child who asks for a puppy, and when it arrives, plays with it for a while, then loses interest? The parents then end up with its care and feeding. This is a good parable for us. Our parent God reaches out to us, we think we are ready for mature faith so we initially respond enthusiastically. Then it becomes hard—we believe it involves reading and studying scripture, working on relationships with those who bug us, cultivating loving ways of being in the world, and having a right relationship with the earth and its creatures.

Being faithful, which is just responding to God’s love, does take mindfulness and a way of being in our skins that reminds us we are a gift from God, not a gift to God. That we really have to do nothing but respond to God’s love for us. That we have been created and loved just the way we are and don’t need to change the center of our very selves to be the recipient of this love.

But we tend to believe we must earn everything in this world, that we have to be good to be loved,
have to be perfect to receive divine attention,
have to be someone else who we think is more holy and worthy
and that sounds very hard. In truth, it is impossible!

So we try for a while, then learn to ignore God’s love for us, go to play with other toys that take less work. Toys that make us feel we are in charge of the world, not God. We get involved in working long hours for the promotion and job security, to make money, we work hard at being the best parent and having the best children, or being the best volunteer, the best housekeeper, to earn things and praise.
And that way of being is indeed very hard.

To not be in whole relationship with God because we are not accepting of the person God created us to be and just rest in the soil that God planted us in is not what God intended.

Tending to our needs by giving up our egos to God is not the way of the millennium—we feel we are not in control, that there is nothing we can do. But there is.
There is the very depth of prayer, the way we communicate with God and bring God into the decisions, the joy, the sorrows, the challenges of every day life. If our prayer life is strong, our relationship with God is strong.

Just like any other relationship, if we don’t have chances to talk to one another, the relationship will die. If God doesn’t become part of our lives through this communication, our relationship and our faith suffer. Episcopalians have an entire prayer book to help us with this task, but if you are only using it on Sundays, your relationship with God will not be what it could be.

Think about it—in any relationship where you communicate once a week, and then only in broad, general terms, and don’t share your inner most thoughts and feelings, that relationship is not going to be very deep. It’s like seeds sitting on top of the rocks, in very shallow soil, the love cannot grow in a hostile environment.

I am on Facebook, which is a social networking tool on the web, being used by more and more people. A former student of mine recently found me on Facebook and contacted me. It was wonderful to hear from her after 20 years. And I lost contact with the daughter of my good friend Patty after Patty died in 1997. This week I googled her daughter’s name and found where she worked and sent her a letter. It feels really warm and comforting to make connections with people you have lost.

If this is true for us humans, how much more so is it with God. When you make connections with God, through prayer and communicating with God in your daily life, how much more so does God rejoice that you have been found. That your relationship is healthy and growing. And that by your reaching out to touch the God who has been reaching out to you all along, you make yourself more available to the divine in all your relationships. You begin to see the blessedness of all those you come in contact with. The love in your life blossoms in the deep soil of God’s love and attention.

Your seeds are spread when you are born, and what kind of soil you give them is up to you. You can provide good loam or you can ignore them altogether and let them die. The seeds of God’s love for you will not totally perish however. They are there waiting for your attention, for you to respond to the lovingkindness of God. To bring God into your daily life, your work, your home, your family and all your relationships. Who doesn’t need more love?