April 26, 2007

It makes no difference whether you have a barn in your backyard or see the city skyline from your front window; everyone knows at least something about seeds and soil. Kindergarten kids begin by learning the essentials of gardening in styrofoam cups perched on kitchen window sills. They learn that for their bean plant to grow it requires plenty of sun, water, and waiting! We can imagine a little one waking up and excitedly racing out of their room to the kitchen only to walk away disheartened, maybe even in tears.

One of Our Lord’s most popular parables, I suspect, is about the sower and the seed. Perhaps its popularity is due to the fact that He explains the parable to His disciples. Here we learn that it is Jesus Himself Who is the sower—Who sows the Word of God. He is very generous and liberal, almost wasteful as the seed is thrown here and there. Some seed falls on the hard and dry footpath, some in the shallow shoulder of the road, some in the thorns; but then, some seed finds “good soil”—rich in nutrients, moist, and deep. Even a grade-schooler could tell us the result of this extravagant spreading of the seeds.

While we can speak much about the generosity of God, and those things in ourselves which can hinder or help His life within us, let us look at an essential ingredient in the planting process, namely, patience.

There is no doubt that our understanding and acceptance of time is very much formed by our environment. While there may be a “chip” within our system that makes us prone to patience or impatience is not yet known. Either way, if it is our inclination to be impatient, we have to work on this because it can cause us and others great harm. An unrealistic assessment of life and the necessity of waiting can bring people to an early grave, be it stress or suicide. When life’s clock and calendar don’t conform to our own timetable, we can become angry, anxious, and again, even self-destructive.

Technology has changed not only how people travel and communicate, but how they understand time. Our grandparents were more patient than us because life went at a more natural pace. They waited for everything—for the crops to come up, the letter to arrive, the soup to cook, and for enough cash to buy a new icebox. Today, almost everyone is uptight and angry when things don’t miraculously pop out of the ground or fall from the sky. All those “labor saving appliances” which promised us more leisure have trained us to be both lazy and unrealistic.

One expression of this techno-pathology is the high rate of depression and, I suspect, divorce. Life doesn’t change by the click of a mouse. People, like plants, need time to mature. Many of life’s situations which we find disagreeable can change if only we put into them some time and effort. Too many people today run for the fire escape at just the smell of smoke. Emergency doors should rarely be used, yet many people, especially the young, use them because they don’t care to wait.

Maybe the parable about the sower and the seed can teach us something about life. Could it be that your marriage or friendship is dying on the vine because you have not put in an honest effort, like a good farmer? Remember, people, like plants, need warmth, water, good soil, and good seed—that is, our kind words and loving deeds. Saint John of the Cross once said, “Where there is no love, put love, and there will be love”. If you walked away from someone who just flattened you with criticism, shrugging your shoulders saying, “Hey, I didn’t do anything!” maybe you were right, you didn’t do anything—and that’s what made you wrong.

Plant, water, warmth, and wait! After all, isn’t that what He does with us?

Fr. Glenn Sudano, CFR

Most Blessed Sacrament Friary, Newark, NJ

(reprinted from archives)

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