Seed

“‘The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field; it is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree…” (Matthew 13:31).

The Resurrection (The Eclectic Light Company)

Have you ever watched a stop-motion video of a seedling growing into a plant.  It is so fascinating.  First the little seed is planted in the dirt and watered.  Then the sun rises and more water is provided and time passes and slowly and gradually the seed develops shoots, which push their way through the soil and eventually the shoots grow stronger and the plant is able to be fully grown.

My eldest son is a very good gardener.  Since he was a very young child at school he has enjoyed gardening.  Each afternoon after school he rushes outside and tends to the plants that he is growing – watering them, pruning them, admiring them.  It usually only takes a small amount of time, but he seems to enjoy this activity very much.  He is certainly nothing at all like his mother in this regard as the slowness of the garden is exhausting for me.  But, for this son of mine, the garden is a worthwhile investment.  He has plenty of time to invest in waiting for the plants not only to grow, but to fruit.  Sometimes, he plants a seed (often taken from kitchen scraps) with full knowledge that if the seed establishes successfully, we may not see any fruit from that plant for seven or eight years.  For me such a long wait is something that completely deters me from even trying to garden, but for my son, there is an exceptional reward in being able to wait for the fruit to be borne by the tree.

Christ understood this.  He told the parable of the mustard seed…

“Another parable he put before them, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field; it is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.’ He told them another parable. ‘The kingdom of heaven is like leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till it was all leavened’ All this Jesus said to the crowds in parables; indeed he said nothing to them without a parable. This was to fulfil what was spoken by the prophet: ‘I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the world.’” (Matthew 13:31-35).

Christ understood plants because He has infinite patience.  And infinite patience means that He knows that we can pray for an intention relentlessly for years or even decades (Saint Monica prayer for her wayward son for over thirty years because he converted and became known as Saint Augustine, Doctor of the Church)…  And while we pray there is often no evidence at all that our prayers are working.  And yet, still we continue to pray.

And I have been thinking about that today because there is so much love hidden beneath the soil (so to speak) while we continue to pray for those intentions of ours – all before the shoots even show themselves…

For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.