2nd Trinity I, God's Leaves

  

2^nd February Trinity I

Luke 8:4-15 

And as a great crowd had gathered, and ever more people streamed to him out of the cities, he [Jesus] spoke in a parable: 

Van Gogh

"A sower went out to sow his seed. As he sowed, some seed fell on the path. It was trodden upon, and the birds of the sky [or, air] ate it up. Other seed fell upon the rocks, and as it sprouted, it [the sprouting green] withered because it had no moisture. Yet other seed fell under the thorns; the thorns grew with it and choked what came up. And some fell upon good soil, grew, and brought forth fruit a hundredfold." When he had said these things, he called out, "Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear!" 

His disciples asked him what this parable might mean. And he said, "To you, it has been given the gift of being able to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of God; but to the others, it is given in pictures and parables, for they see and do not yet see, and hear, although they do not yet understand with their thinking.

 

"The meaning of the parable is this: The seed is the Word of God. That which fell upon the path are those who hear it; afterward, the tempter comes and tears the Word out of their hearts so that they cannot find healing through the trusting power of faith working in them. 

"Those on the rock are those who, when they hear the Word, take it up with joy; but they remain without root. For a while, the power of their faith works in them, but in times of trial, they fall away. 

"What fell under the thorns are those who hear the Word from the spirit, and as they go on their way, the sorrows and the riches and the joys of life choke it, and they bring no fruit to maturity. 

"And the seeds that fell in the good soil are those who hear the Word, and take it up into their hearts, feel its beauty, become noble and worthy and patiently keep it alive, tending it there until it brings forth fruit."

2^nd February Trinity

February 13, 2022

Luke 8:14-18 

Where does the sky begin? 

When we look up on a clear night, the sky has infinite depth. During a clear day, again, the infinite blue. But when there are clouds, the sky comes lower. In fog, it lowers to nearly ground level. Therefore we might well say that the sky begins where the ground ends. Its lowest level is the air around us. And we are all of us sky-dwellers. 

In the parable, the sower scatters his Word-Seeds from the sky.
They shower down around us, into us. Whether and how long they grow depends on where they fall. 

Some of Christ’s words fall into the everydayness of life. They are crushed underfoot in our busyness. In our ordinary overcrowded earthly way of thinking, the sky-birds of the adversary make them disappear. 

Some of Christ’s words fall on the rocky soil of an open but shallow heart. They live for a while, but without depth, they cannot be maintained and soon die away. 

Some of His words fall into the thickets of our lives. They accompany us on our journey for a while, but life’s fullness chokes them out, and His words cannot gain a full and independent life in us. 

Yet some of Christ’s living Word-Seeds fall into open hearts, into souls that have been plowed and cultivated, deepened intentionally or perhaps by suffering. Into such a human earthly heart, Christ’s sky-words fall. And there, the soul and spirit tend and nourish them, and they grow and develop their potential to become immensely fruitful. 

And that is how we attain God’s eternal life—by receiving his Seed-Words and growing them skyward within us. For the sky begins at the ground level of the human heart. 

Teresa of Avila says:

 

Our bodies

are the leaves of God.

  

.... but our souls, dear, I will just say this forthright;

they are God

Himself,

 

we will never perish

unless [in us] He

does.* 

 

* “ I Will Just Say This,” by Teresa of Avila (1515-1582), in Love Poems From God, Daniel Ladinsky, p. 271

www.thechristiancommunity.org

 

 

2nd February Trinity 2020, Quiet Seeds

2^nd February Trinity

Luke 8:4-15

And as a great crowd had gathered, and ever more people streamed to him out of the cities, he spoke in a parable:

A sower went out to sow his seed. As he sowed, some seed fell on the path. It was trodden upon, and the birds of the sky (air) ate it up. Other seed fell upon the rocks, and as it sprouted, it (the sprouting green) withered because it had no moisture. Yet other seed fell under the thorns; the thorns grew with it and choked what came up. And some fell upon good soil, grew, and brought forth fruit a hundredfold. When he had said these things, he called out:

“He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

His disciples asked him what this parable might mean. And he said:

“To you, it has been given the gift of being able to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of God; but to the others, it is given in pictures and parables, for they see and do not yet see, and hear, although they do not yet understand with their thinking. The meaning of the parable is this:

The seed is the Word of God. That which fell upon the path are those who hear it; afterward, the tempter comes and tears the Word out of their hearts so that they cannot find healing through the trusting power of faith working in them.

Those on the rock are those who, when they hear the Word, take it up with joy; but they remain without root. For a while, the power of their faith works in them, but in times of trial, they fall away.

What fell under the thorns are those who hear the Word from the spirit, and as they go on their way, the sorrows and the riches and the joys of life choke it, and they bring no fruit to maturity.

And the seeds that fell in the good soil are those who hear the Word, and take it up into their hearts, feel its beauty, become noble and worthy and patiently keep it alive, tending it there until it brings forth fruit.

2^nd February Trinity

February 16, 2020

Luke 8: 4-15

Charles Andrade

Imagine a potted plant you could only view from a distance. How could you tell if it were a living plant or an artificial one? You could observe it over time. Does it grow and blossom? Does it change?

The Gospel says that Jesus uses agricultural images especially for the souls who stream to him from the city. These plant images are the most accurate for describing how the living seed of the Word of God changes and grows over time. So He uses images from the realm of living processes to describe how the Word of God lives and grows in the soul.

The life realm of the plants is a quiet realm. We don’t hear flowers open to a fanfare of trumpets. We don’t perceive a great symphonic flourish when fruit ripens. The living Word of God is as quiet as a seed. The very loudness of

modern life with its sorrows and riches and joys may distract us to the point where our souls can no longer provide the depth and richness, the fertility for the germination and growth of His Word.

We need to tend the field of our own souls. We need to till the ground of the heart, perhaps through suffering, certainly through attention and selfless deeds. We need to water the ground of the heart with our tears, warm it with our prayers, let shine the clear sunlight of our spiritual learning and understanding. We need to take in the seed of God’s Word and treasure it in our hearts. We need to protect it and nourish it in the womb of the soul so that it grows and develops there.

We can grow God in our hearts. We do this so that His Word can mature and ripen into a fruitfulness that we can offer to the world of earth and the world of the angels. God’s Word - as it quietly speaks in the Gospels, as it is imaged in nature, as it speaks through human destinies – God’s word resounds and manifests in the world through us. We can grow and carry God wherever we go. We can be the place where His Word becomes manifest, grows and transforms.

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3rd February Trinity 2019, Another Sowing

Luke 8: 14-18 (adapted from Madsen)

And as a great crowd had gathered, and ever more people streamed to him out of the cities, he spoke in a parable:

van Gogh

A sower went out to sow his seed. As he sowed, some seed fell on the path. It was trodden upon, and the birds of the sky (air) ate it up. Other seed fell upon the rocks, and as it sprouted, it (the sprouting green) withered, because it had no moisture. Still other seed fell under the thorns; the thorns grew with it and choked what came up. And some fell upon good soil, grew, and brought forth fruit a hundredfold. When he had said these things, he called out:

“He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

His disciples asked him what this parable might mean. And he said:

To you it has been given the gift of being able to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of God; but to the others, it is given in pictures and parables, for they see and do not yet see, and hear, although they do not yet understand with their thinking. The meaning of the parable is this:

The seed is the Word of God. That which fell upon the path are those who hear it; afterward, the tempter comes and tears the Word out of their hearts so that they cannot find healing through the trusting power of faith working in them.

Those on the rock are those who, when they hear the Word, take it up with joy; but they remain without root. For a while, the power of their faith works in them, but in times of trial, they fall away.

What fell under the thorns are those who hear the Word from the spirit, and as they go on their way, the sorrows and the riches and the joys of life choke it, and they bring no fruit to maturity.

And the seed which fell in the good soil are those who hear the Word, and take it up into their hearts, feel its beauty, become noble and worthy and patiently keep it alive, tending it there until it brings forth fruit.

No one lights a light and hides it under a vessel or under a bench; instead, he places it on a lampstand so that all who come in see the light. For nothing is hidden which shall not be revealed, and nothing is secret which shall not be known and proclaimed. So attend to how you listen. For he who has enlivened in himself the power to bear the spirit, to him more will be given. He however who does not have this power, from him will be taken that which he thinks he has.

3rd February Trinity

February 17, 2019

Luke 8: 14 – 18

Anyone who has tried planting a garden knows: the conditions must be right. The right season, the right temperature, neither too hot nor too cold. The right level of moisture, neither too hard and dry, nor too muddy. The right level of fertility.

Our hearts are also gardens waiting to be cultivated; cultivated through art, through truth, through spiritual and religious practice. Some of us may be just starting. Or maybe we tried before, but we lacked sufficient depth. Or maybe our hearts wandered off into the busyness of life. But there comes a moment.  The poet says:

Tissot

My soul is a dark plowed field

In the cold rain;

My soul is a broken field

Plowed by pain.

Where windy grass and flowers

Were growing,

The field lies broken now

For another sowing.

Great Sower, when you tread

My field again,

Scatter the furrows there

With better grain.*

Our hearts plowed by life’s sorrows, broken open with gratitude, watered by tears. And the Word-Seed is sown. Recognizing our fertility, our heart’s potential, the Creator drops his Word – I AM – into our hearts.

And the Word-Seed takes root. We recognize that it has the potential to grow into a thing of beauty in us. And so we straighten up and do our best to cultivate the garden of our heart. With patient effort, we tend the Word-Seed. We keep our hearts moist and soft. We weed out our bad habits. With patient effort, we tend the creating Word in our hearts until it grows and blossoms forth in beauty of soul. Until it matures into fruitful deeds of love.

---

*Sara Teasdale, “The Broken Field"

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