The Sower and the Seed.  

 In case you're wondering what prompted me to start this journal,  I am taking a Bible Study class.  One of the texts is the Bible itself.  Another is Learn To Live:  The Meaning of the Parables by Ervin Seale.   The story of David and Goliath was not a parable.  The main focus of the story was about how a small and inexperienced youth managed to take down the giant.  I got focused on the armor, which was one important part of the story.  I missed the main point, which I think is not unusual for me.  I can easily get caught up in a tangent, weave mental meanderings around it, and get myself thoroughly lost.

This week our class is studying the parable of the Sower and the Seed.  (Mark 4-1).  In this story Jesus told of the farmer who was spreading his seed out by hand to start the next growing cycle.  Some of the seed fell by the wayside,  some of it on rocky ground there there wasn't enough soil to sustain it,  some on ground that had thorny plants that grew up and choked the out the fruit, and some on good soil.  Jesus went on to explain the meaning of the metaphors.

 The seed is the Word of God and the soil is like the of the person who hears the word.  Some minds are completely closed, like the packed earth of the road.  Some minds have so little preparation that it's like the word falls mostly on the rocks.  There is not enough soil to sustain the living breathing word.  Some minds are so full of thorns like the pursuit of Knowledge, Power and Wealth  that those ideas choke out the Truth.  And finally some are like the good soil.  And in them the Word can live and move and bear fruit.  My mind has at times been like all the conditions fo the soil.  

What I am learning is that God wants the best for all of us, all of the time.  God is forever giving us All, but we can only take what our level of consciousnesses allows. There is no shortage, no lack, no limitation in the Mind of God.  All of those things exist in our world due to our beliefs.  We have all grown up with ideas, prejudices and fears that seem the mainstay of the human condition.  When I release the blocks of limiting beliefs - like being unworthy of Good,  being doomed to suffer for past sins, or the belief that there is not enough good to go around,  then I can at last envision a Good Future and sustain the vision. 

I often find that I get excited about some thing, like a goal of losing weight,  and can't maintain the discipline to achieve it.  Instead of going for the real Prize of Good Health, I get focused on all the details - the number of calories, protein grams, fat grams and carbohydrates and  the exercise required. to achieve it.   The real Truth is that God can and will create whatever future  I  envision and hold in my mind.  Instead of trusting in my Inner Guidance to create Health and Wellness, I get lost in the details that are actually almost irrelevant.  What I weigh is not the main pillar of health, nor is the Exercise I do.  Inside of me, the Voice of God is whispering the right Guidance all the time, but my own thorny thoughts are so loud they often drown it out.

For me, it means that every day I have to pray, meditate and reflect on the Spirit of God,  humbly asking for help to Trust in the process of Life.    God and I can be partners in the walk through life.  Guide me Lord to know and do your Will.

Amen