Covenant Seeds

by Lucy Strohl OPA ~ March 13, 2008

Readings: Gn.17:3-9, Psalm 105: 4-9

"I clear away some stones and branches on my path.  I rub dirt between my fingers.  It is moist, this dust to which I shall return … Lord, during these days, plant a seed of stillness within me."  On my Lenten journey, those  words stayed with me.  I read the scriptures over and over: "My covenant is with you... I will render you exceedingly fertile.  I will maintain my covenant with you and your descendents."  Covenant is a prominent metaphor for Israel's relationship with God.  These agreements were solemn and sacred.

And here, now-- God speaks to us, continuing to keep the Word of Life alive through each of us.  What have we been receptive to during this season of Lenten uprooting, planting and seeding?  We stand at the edge of Holy Week. We bless these past weeks.  Did some feel like bitter, cold December days?  Maybe some periods gave us glimpses of springtime newness.  Perhaps other stretches were long... blistering us with loss, questions, doubts and pain. Other times may have reminded us just to be grateful for the stark fallow ground before us. Hopefully, looking back, all our days have graced us.

 We find the Lord in praying the Psalms, in study, in friendship and community. The scriptures alert us to holy sightings in unexpected places, too--in dark days, in owning our "what if's" and our "oh, please not yets". Perhaps we've discovered unwritten conditions in the dust of the fine print  we cautiously add to our own covenant agreement. Yet God's bond with us reminds us EVERY moment is alive with God.  Dominic was truly alive with the grace and energy of God.  In his time there was darkness, famine, illness and war all around.  He survived the chaos through the deep seed of stillness, God's covenant love, planted in his soul.  Dominic had  only one passion-- to know and experience the Word of God in truth and from that experience to announce the compassion of God to all.  His heart was fertile, moist ground for listening to different voices, other people's pieces of the truth, so that they could proclaim together the richness and diversity of the first seeds of the Holy Preaching.

Isn't that one reason for joining our Dominican family from Oxford, Kentucky, New Orleans and Ohio? Together we hope to announce new possibilities of God dwelling compassionately among us--through delighting in life--but also by sharing in darkness, standing with those not accepted, those not listened to thoughtfully or looked at indifferently--as they speak their words of truth.  We want to allow the grace of the Spirit to lead us beyond our fears to new  ways of seeing and responding.  Remembering God's covenant with us, how are we prodded to be preachers of grace today?

How do we recognize grace... within us... among us... for our world?  Marilyn McIntyre  suggests, "Grace takes us by surprise.It comes in odd packages. It may look like loss or mistakes.  It acts like rain or like a seed.  It supplies what we need, not necessarily what we want.Grace reminds us we are not in control and that Not being in control is a form of freedom".  This is what Covenant love and Grace are all about.  Perhaps in deeper quiet, in stillness--we can pray:  Yes, Lord, plant a seed of stillness within us. If we dare to gather our seeds together--who knows how God's Word will take root!