The Seeds of Lent

Last week, during a brief warm spell and in a prematurely excited desire to get things going in my garden ahead of schedule, I planted 3 rows of beet seeds. At present, they are laying under 3 inches of snow that fell a few days later. No harm done, since they are cold-weather plants and haven't sprouted yet; still, it might be a while before they rouse out of dormancy.

Jesus relays an agricultural parable to his disciples in all three of the synopic gospels (Mk 4, Lk 8; Mt 13) that illustrate the potential for us to grow in Christ during the penitential season with four scenarios of sowing:

1) seeds along the path, which the birds eat up
2) seeds on rocky ground, which spring up quickly but shortly whither for lack of roots
3) seeds among thorns, which grew up and chocked the plant
4) seeds on good soil, producing thirty, sixty, one hundred fold.

The forty day period of Lent (and beyond) has the potential to be a fertile spiritual field in which we concentrate a little more closely on cultivating the practices and virtues necessary to work out our salvation in harmony with God the Creator, over the long haul, in preparation for Resurrection Sunday. So, how can it address these four germination scenarios in Jesus' parable of the sower?

1) The seed sown along the path is vulnerable to those who would snatch it up. It is not in the right spot, not furrowed in, but hanging out there on the surface. "As soon as they hear it" Satan comes and takes away the word sown in them. We need to 'furrow in' with those who will support us and provide a hedge of protection, surrounding ourselves with good things and not detractors.

2) The seed sown on rocky ground is like the fast horse out of the blocks, or the dieter on New Years Day. Ash Wednesday and you're off to a great start. But you won't make it past Friday without some solid time spent in prayer and time devoted to going deeper in your relationship with the Lord and in the Word. Fertilizer, if you will--something to feed the roots.

3) The seed sown among thorns. The desire for comfort, inordinate pleasure, and worldly possessions has the potential to choke out the light, the air, and the moisture needed for good growing conditions. When we work on pruning and stripping these things out, those things that take up space in our lives instead of God, we allow more room to grow spiritually.

4) The seed sown on good soil. When a plant is getting good light, water, and nutrients to feed its roots and vegetative growth, it flourishes.  Prayer, time spent in Scripture, pruning out sinful tendencies, caring for the poor, and fasting all contribute to this state.


For me, Lent came at a time when I was struggling to focus spiritually. I was lax in my prayer life and various vines and brambles had worked their way into my life. I was overdue for a pruning. To take my mind off my grumbling stomach, I took a walk in the woods south of campus as a kind of mid-day retreat, just time alone with God. It was quiet and peaceful, and my tracks in the snow along the path were the only ones being made. I stopped along a small creek to read from the book of Psalms:

Lord, who may dwell in your sacred tent?
    Who may live on your holy mountain?
The one whose walk is blameless,
    who does what is righteous,
    who speaks the truth from their heart;
whose tongue utters no slander,
    who does no wrong to a neighbor,
    and casts no slur on others;
who despises a vile person
    but honors those who fear the Lord;
who keeps an oath even when it hurts,
    and does not change their mind;
who lends money to the poor without interest;
    who does not accept a bribe against the innocent.
 
Whoever does these things
    will never be shaken.


I've found it's important for me not to bite off too much, and also to keep focused on the 'heart of things.' The externals are meant to help us on the journey--a means to an end, not the end itself. I don't want Lent to be some kind of spiritual New Year's with good intentions that last for a few days and end in failure and self-defeat. So, baby steps. After all, you have to build up the soil before you can expect to grow anything worth harvesting.