JULY232023

Growing up in a row home in Baltimore when I was younger much of the imagery of the parables of Jesus was lost on me since his world was rural and farming. Now that I live next to an urban farm the stories become clearer, for example the mustard seed. “It is the smallest of all the seeds, yet when full-grown it is the largest of plants. It becomes a large bush, and the ‘birds of the sky come and dwell in its branches.'” In the early spring when they do the planting all you see is dirt but with seed and sun and water pretty soon we have kale and collards and (soon!) tomatoes. Where does all that growth come from? We live in a time when the Church we grew up in is diminishing. Instead of opening churches and expanding schools there are closing and mergers. But God has not changed. God wishes to provide the growth and the sun still shines and the rain still falls. Our role is to plant the seed. The seed is there because of previous growth. We inherited it. But it does no good just sitting there. It must be given the opportunity to bring forth new life. Let us not be discouraged that things are not like the good old days but place our trust in the God who is about new life. While our efforts might seem small to us, God gives the growth.