June 16, 2006

• this post is for those among us who became anxious when the infallibility of the Bible was called into question > FEAR NOT!!!  even if there  are changes or contradictions or edits, the Spirit and the Word shine forth....

  
  

  this post is for those among us, in particular myself today, who are feeling battered and shaken and perhaps of no account .... FEAR NOT ... for we really do matter and we really are loved and important, no matter what others might say or think or try to get us to believe....

  
  

  i did not write the following > i wish i did, for i feel it is a profound meditation on the particular passage, that of the mustard seed.  the author is a friend of mine, a female priest, Rev. Barbara Crafton, who has retired from parish ministry but remains active as a writer, inspirational speaker, and leader of retreats.  you can visit her website at http://www.geraniumfarm.org/   ...

  
  

  "With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.
  
  Just to be sure, I checked again: is there a mustard plant that's tall, tall enough for birds to roost in, a mustard plant with long, strong branches, a mustard plant that dwarves everyone else in the garden?
  
  No, there's not. Not anywhere. Mustard is mustard -- plain and plentiful. A weed, in many quarters, although its greens are good in a salad and its seeds make the famous condiment that bears its name. The mustard Jesus knew is the same mustard we know.
  
  We can only conclude that the enormous mustard of this passage is the fantasy of an anxious scribe, who simply couldn't believe that Our Lord meant to compare the Kingdom of God to a common weed and decided to help Jesus out a little. To explain what he thought Jesus must surely have meant: The Kingdom of God is Really Amazing!!! It's Huge!!! It's Just Incredible!!!!!!! You've never seen anything like it in your Entire Life!!!!!!!!!
  
  When Jesus meant exactly the opposite: you have seen it before. It's right here -- it's everywhere. It is the beauty of a plant people think amounts to little or nothing -- the kingdom of God is a common carpet of loveliness, golden in the sun, and anyone can walk in it. The kingdom of God is you, you who think you're of no account, and it is you, you who are esteemed as of no account by others. Your beauty fills the earth, in community with all the other beauties God has made. "

  
  

  i hope that i can assimilate this message today, for i am one of the ones who need it the most, i fear.  it is hard not to feel unimportant, passed over, or even worse, a failure.... but we are reminded that there is incredible beauty in the ordinary, that God indwells all of us, and loves all of us, believers and non-believers alike.
  

  • 4:59 pm
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