go wild!
My second favorite day of the year is the day I sow my wild flower seeds.*
It’s usually cold and cloudy.
Scatter, scatter, scatter… nothing. Wait. Wait some more.
My first favorite day of the year is the day they bloom!
It’s usually warm and sunny.
Pop! Pop! Pop! … Happy! Happy! Happy!
The seeds sown along the path of life are like this, they yield fruit—mostly beautiful (hopefully)-- all in due season.
What can we learn from the principle of sowing and reaping?
1. You always reap WHAT you sow.
In the garden: You sow poppies, you get poppies, not daisies.
In life: You sow love, you get love. St. John of the Cross stated, “Where there is no love, put love-- and you will find love.” Sow love and reap love—but funnily, not always where you sowed it. I find it fascinating to see what pops up where. The wind blows and I find flowers in the most surprising places! The world is round…you will reap what you sow-but not always in the place in which you sowed it. Don’t be discouraged if you are sowing love but not receiving love where you are sowing it. God will make sure you receive the love you sow…watch for it. He will surprise you!
2. You always get back MORE than you sow.
In the garden: You sow one seed, you get back a stalk that has several blooms on it and if the conditions are right--it just might reproduce itself.
In life: You can’t out-give God. Yep. You be faithful in planting your little seeds…and HE does the rest. He is the God of Great Abundance, the God of the Great Harvest, the God Who Multiplies…He is Profusion itself. Sow broadly, and pour yourself into a few faithful people (like your family or a small group community**) and see what He does to multiply the effort. Jesus had only twelve…we are the fruit of their labor.
3. You have to WAIT for the harvest.
In the garden: I sow in fall or very early spring, they bloom much later--early summer.
In life: You may not see immediate results. Ugh. I hate this part. I am not a great “waiter”, yes, ‘tis painfully true, I am impatient. But God is teaching me patients, it is a virtue He is cultivating in me. I must trust in His timing and in His love not only for me but for all. I must be faithful in the wait and have HOPE that He will do what only He can do. And so, I must do what only I can do--my little part to be His hands and feet on this earth and scatter the seeds He has given me to plant.
Where’s your garden? Your home? Your office or work place? Your school? Your neighborhood? Your club? Your gym? Your Church? Where is your mission field?
Ask the Lord of the Harvest to make you faithful in sowing your seeds. Ask that He help you till the soil so that it can be ready to receive the seed of His word and your faith-filled actions of love (we call that PRE-evangelism… it’s simply LOVING PEOPLE RIGHT WHERE THEY ARE). And then see what God does with your faithful efforts.
“Neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who causes the growth.” 1 Corinthians 3:7.
Dear Lord,
Make me a faithful farmer. Help me to sow my seeds, near and far, all along life’s paths. Give me a keen sense of mission. Help me to see all that I do as opportunity to spread your love…and to be patient in the wait for the harvest. Surprise me Lord. I want to produce a garden of love for You.
I ask this in the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
*Want to plant a wild flower garden? I’m down here in Texas not far from the coolest Wild Flower seed farm on the planet! Order seeds from Wild Seed Farms and go wild! Cosmos is the “procrastinators friend.” It can grow just about anywhere--all it needs is a nice patch of dirt, some water and lots of sun…see what happens!
** Want to start a “small group”? Try these easy ideas:
Pray and ask a few friends to come over for coffee, drinks or dinner or gather at your lunch break. Then try this:
2. Have a Power Hour: Pray the Rosary together and go for a walk.
3. Discuss the upcoming Sunday’s Gospel and see how it applies to your everyday situations in life.
