The Gifts of Soil and Soul

By Lucy Strohl OPA ~ July 23, 2008

Scripture: Matthew 13: 1-9

There's a prayer I'd like to teach you today.  It's not long; it doesn't have fancy or hard words to remember.  It even has a picture to go with it.  I didn't get it from an Internet site or a book I read.  I just know I don't say the prayer often enough.  Here's the picture: it's a Peanuts cartoon.  Charlie Brown is dutifully saying his prayers kneeling beside his bed.  Obviously unaware of it, Lucy is standing behind him. Charlie ends his petition to God this way: ‘And, PLEASE --help Lucy's disposition. Amen!!’  I told you it was a simple, to the point prayer.

That picture and prayer came to mind as I read today's scripture.  What a gift--Charlie's simple, honest and I'm sure-- frequent prayer!  We know Lucy wasn't the easiest character to put up with.  As I recall, Lucy has a puzzled look on her face as she overhears Charlie Brown.  Her disposition?  Surely not!  The truth is we all need someone praying for us.  Maybe it would even be good to hear our sister or brother's honest prayer for us .What do we overhear in the gospel today?  Jesus spoke in everyday terms, familiar images, to get us to listen more deeply and perhaps even to change our ways. My response is: Not right now, Lord. I've got more than enough rocky ground and thorniness that needs work. And then--you remind me of my rich soil. But it's such a tiny plot, so unyielding really. Let's not look with our judgmental, not-good enough eyes--but standing on the shore of our hearts, let's listen to Jesus speak.  Looking together, what gift is there--in the rich soil of our souls?  Well... I  Was a good nurse; I Was a good teacher.  I Was a good manager, presenter, pray-er or I Was a good.......All of us can fill in the blank for ourselves.  Jesus asks us to look more deeply. What is the gift of our good soil--right now, just for Today?  Looking at it alone, we tend to see the not-so-great, the use-to be's--not the Here and Now gift.  We all know folks who have shared their little piece of fertile soil with us-- their gift of humility, humor, a warm and welcoming word or touch on a day that's cold for us ... even though it was 98° outside.  Or maybe someone shared their gift of impatience… to help us learn more patience.

‘Tend the good soil,’ Fr. Ronald Rolheiser, OMI would say.  Nourish and focus on your gifts; that's the way the weeds are choked out. There's less and less room for the weeds when we focus on and grow our gifts.  Tend the good soil ; water it with gratitude, prayer and acceptance. The good will grow; it's God's work in us.  Sometimes--maybe most of the time--we aren't very good at laying fallow, letting God do the work of tending our fragile soil and souls.  Looking back, we see God was the Sower of our many gifts yesterday, so we can trust that God will gift us today, too.  Just for TODAY-- through these scriptures, I was reminded that my gift for today is my slowness in walking.  (Trust me, TOMORROW  I may not see it as a gift; but I know God the Sower, will understand that, too.)   There are so many little pieces of beauty, time and awareness I'd miss without the gift of slowness.

What  particular gift does our loving Sower have for you today?  Our gifts, great and small, are for all of us --not just for ourselves.  One lady when asked what her gift for her community would be, thought about it and then  replied: "I've been through things".  Hasn't our hearts’ soil been watered with trials and tears like that lady's?

Being people of the plains we can also relate to what Thomas Merton suggests: There's not a seed that falls into the ground, nor a stalk of wheat that nods in the wind that does not preach and proclaim the goodness and mercy of God to the whole world.  What does our good seed and soil proclaim this day?

Our church Mothers and Fathers tell us we have two souls... a grand, huge and open one.  The other is the wounded, protected and petty one.  Fr. Rolheiser reminds us to nourish our grand soul--the good soil, in some little way everyday. Our community, our world needs our gift today, whatever it is. It is God who tends our hearts’ needs. God knows our rocky, thorny ways--as well as our good and grand dispositions.  Prepare my heart now Lord--to listen, to accept and embrace the little gift you give me -- to share with this community.  You know me and my soil . You know me and my soul . That's enough for today.