"Seeds of True Joy"

[December 23rd - Little Christmas Eve]

Today the reading is the Parable of the Sower from Luke chapter 8.  I confess that i can't make head nor tail of Merton's commentary on this which is taken from "Conjectures of the Guilty Bystander" (great title!).  I'm also uncomfortable with the parable.  It is a conundrum, a riddle.  The seed is first described as being the word of God and then as "the ones" who fall on either the path, the rock, thorns or soil.  Am i the bearer of God's word?  Following this analogy i think of Mary who hears and receives the divine message and ponders it in her heart (nurturing the seed).  She is the good soil and bears the fruit (making me think of "Jesus Christ the Apple Tree" - click on this link to see and hear Jesus Christ the Apple Tree - choir of Kings College Cambridge).

If seed falls on bare rock its brief life is joyous.  A bird consumes the seed and is nourished by it.  Or it passes through the bird's digestive system and has a rebirth, another opportunity to be planted. 

A seed in the thorns might be choked by stronger plants, might be led astray - this is the hardest place to be scattered i think but out of such circumstances some of our most inspirational people have thrived.

The seed that falls on the path might well be carried away on the sole of a shoe, on the belly or the tail of a creature.  But this need not be a bad thing.  What one sows, another one reaps.  The word of God travels and can be shared everywhere whether consciously (packet of seeds in the pocket) or unconsciously (caught on fur or clothing).

What is the word of God?

COMPASSION

From this

roots weave deep

fibres of interconnectedness

of love spreading

mostly unseen

below

the

surface

Up from this shoot

stems of hope

reaching ot

yearning

hoping

And from these stems

leaves

are open

hands of peace

and reconciliation

while

the

buds and

blossoms

shout

JOY

to

all.