Peace be with you.
I found myself reflecting this week in what is often called ‘liminal space.’ Liminal space refers to a physical or psychological ‘in-between’ zone. It is a space I find myself in often each and every week. Let me explain.
The tradition of the Church holds that the lessons offered on a Sunday service extend through the week until the next worship service the following Sunday. However for those preparing for the next scheduled worship service have to do things like write a homily, sermon, meditation or reflection based on the lessons appointed for that upcoming Sunday. So every Monday morning I start my day with reading the lessons for the upcoming Sunday as I prepare words to share. As often happens I experience being in the ‘in-between’ zone: still reflecting on the previous lessons coupled with the upcoming lessons.
This week I found myself reflecting on Matthew’s parable of the sower while reading the lessons for this upcoming Sunday. What struck me was the connection between the parable of the sower and the Romans lesson for this upcoming Sunday. In Romans we will hear (and read) one of my favorites: ‘We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.’
What struck me was holding the long standing understanding that God is the sower and offers seeds all the time. Sometimes the seeds take deep root; other times they sprout quickly yet perish as not deeply rooted; still others get choked out due to weeds; and some seeds just feed the birds. Yet, in all that can happen to the seeds we never hear that God stops sowing. God is constantly sowing seeds in our lives: the seeds of love, of hope, of peace, of reconciliation, of justice and of wisdom to name just a few. In this way we do indeed groan in labor pains as we do our work toward fostering the sown seeds in hopes of bearing good fruit, which Romans points to as well: ‘For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.’
This then begs questions: What do I need to do in preparing my soil in hope that these seeds will take deep root and flourish? What thorny weeds (grief, fear, anger, hatred, prejudice, envy, worry…) choke these seeds from fully developing? What path or paths do I need to take a detour from or change direction on? What can I do at this time to attend to nurturing (eat better, exercise, rest, read, coffee with friend, lending a hand to a neighbor…) the seeds that have already been planted deep within me?
I will continue to practice patient hope as I foster my adoption in Christ in laboring the with the sown seeds freely given at all times to produce the fruits of the Spirit to manifest more fully.
Peace
Image can be found on Pixabay
