As our group gathered to listen and pray with this text, we collectively noticed a significant shift in how we view the Sower, the Seed and the Soil. We experienced inner shifts from:
blame to curiosity,
shame to grace,
calculated outcomes to patient possibilities everywhere,
worldly economics to treasures of relational intimacy.
Together, we tasted the Kingdom of Heaven with a crazy farmer at the helm, with an endless supply of seeds and a deep trust in the process of indiscriminate sowing itself.
Amidst the art, color, poetry and prose that arose in our prayer, Claudia shares her poignant tale.
Dirt Rot
My friend asked – What do you make of this?
And then he waited, curious, for my answer.
I’m wondering about dirt, I said.
I’m wondering about how soil becomes receptive.
How does it become a good home for a seed to do its work?
And then I remembered rot.
The luxury of a whole year in which dirt produces nothing.
Dead plants rot.
Bugs chew, eat, poop.
Empty tired dirt is reborn.
It’s a dirt vacation.
The 7th Sabbath year.
The year of things falling apart.
Turns out there are limits to what you can force yourself to produce on an endless
hamster wheel of efficiency.
No one tells you that.
But they sure offer a lot of things to keep you spinning faster, medicating more,
just trying to be good dirt.
When all you really needed was a year of rot.
To make new blooms from dead remains.
To find a root in yourself.
She who has ears, let her hear.
It could take a whole year.
Blessings as you listen and pray with the parable. May there be fresh grace for you as you notice and stay with what stirs within. The Teacher, the Sower is with you in the process.
Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23 RSV
That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat there; and the whole crowd stood on the beach. And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they had not much soil, and immediately they sprang up, 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 upon 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. He who has ears, let him hear.”
18 “Hear then the parable of the sower. When any one hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in his heart; this is what was sown along the path. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. As for what was sown among thorns, this is he who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the delight in riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. As for what was sown on good soil, this is he who hears the word and understands it; he indeed bears fruit, and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”
For Reflection and Prayer:
Was there a word, a phrase, image, or feeling that ‘shimmered’ as you listened? Allow it to land in your heart. Stay with it. Savor it.
Reflect on what you heard. What effect does it have on you? What meaning does it hold for you? What does the Holy Spirit seem to be conveying to you? Talk it over in your prayer. Perhaps you want to draw or color your prayer or journal the conversation.
As the time of prayer comes to a close, share some moments of quiet with Jesus, simply resting safely in his presence.