Sow what? This past Saturday’s mass readings (1 Cor. 15:35-37, 42-49 and Luke 8:4-15) got me thinking about gardening and the amazing miracle that happens every time we plant the seed of a dead plant. How something which seemed to be dead actually grows into something new and beautiful. The cycle continues every year. Depending on the season, things die and are reborn and each year, the same plant or tree grows bigger, healthier and more beautiful.
The same holds true for us. The difference is, unlike plants, we were created with an intellect and a will. You see, God works all these miracles in nature and nature doesn’t really have a choice, does it? But we do! We were given the choice to participate in God’s plan or not. Unfortunately, we grow so attached to who we are that we fail or refuse to change, but just as in nature God works miracles and continues to make things better, so too with us. God always has better plans for us – better than we have for ourselves. God wants to work in our lives and He wants us to participate and co-create with Him. All we have to do is say yes, let our old habits, ways and routines die so that a new and refreshed and more beautiful us can sprout. That’s not to say that things in our lives won’t get messy or ugly or dry (think of what a seed looks like before it is reborn). However, we hold on to hope – the Christian hope that NEVER disappoints.
One last thing: it’s called a life “cycle” for a reason. Heck, I’d venture to say it’s a “vicious cycle.” Life is about ups and downs, changes and redirections, growth and transformation. Every day we “die” a little – we move from vice to virtue one baby step at a time. On this side of heaven we never arrive, but we continue the journey, hopefully giving God permission to work and continuing to grow, change and blossom into something new and beautiful each hour, each day, each week and each year.
This week, let’s consider all the ways we say no to God. Can we try to muster up enough humility to imagine ourselves as a creature without an intellect and will and allow God’s will to be done. Can we imagine ourselves as a dried up seed whose life and rebirth depends on God, because it actually does! God bless you!
