Psalm 1: Matthew 13: 20, 22, 23

Soil samples

The texts for today give us a lot of nature metaphors.  Jesus talks about different kinds of soil where seeds can fall.   The point is that people can be like soil, good soil or bad soil, receptive soil and soil with thorns.  In Psalm 1 the text compares faithful, spiritual people to trees that are planted next streams. They have access to water.  So good, faithful, loyal, spiritual people are like good things in nature, trees or soil. These are things that inhabitants of a parched, infertile land depend on.  Anyone there would have instantly been able to relate to these metaphors, for they are life giving.

Last week, Alejandro Sabella, the coach of the Argentine soccer team, spoke of Lionel Messi, one of the smallest players in the game and arguably the world’s best player and said that Messi was like a life giving force that creates fertility when there is a drought of options in the game.  He creates something out of very little space. It was way too great of a metaphor for a game, but it shows you how seriously people can take the game. It also shows that the examples used in these texts aren’t that farfetched at all.

Christian Wiman writes about the importance of faith (The Best Spiritual Writing 2011. Philip Zaleski Editor New York: Penguin, 2010, p. 203, 204):” On the radio I hear a famous novelist praising his father for enduring…without “ever seeking relief in religion.” It is clear from the son’s description that the father was in absolute despair,  and that   he could find nothing to hold on to but his pride, and drowned clutching that nothing. This is to be admired?  That we carry our despair stoically ….that even the utmost anguish of our lives not change us?  I don’t mean to suggest that theattitide of stcoic acceptance is not at times a worthy one. I don’t know what was going on in the mind of the novelist’s father, but what was going on in the mind of the novelist is quite clear: it’s the old fear of religion as a crutch. “ The novelist and the novelist’s father both are not good soil for the seed of faith.  They are also not good trees that draw the water of faith.

So,  how do we make all if this concrete?  First, We have to be soil that can absorb nutrients.  You all know that soils are different.  Volcanic soil and river soil are often very fertile. But in Sacramento county if you go a ways from the rivers the soil gets bad and takes a lot of work.  Second, we have to be soil that is free from thorns and rocks. Third, we must be in a good location to draw water.

Friends, it is quite a jump to go from soil to people. They are so different.  But let us remember we all came from earth.  We are part of the earth and the earth is part of us. In many cultures the location of that earth is crucial.  Let us not forget that.  There is iron in the earth and we when we evolved from earth took on elements of that earth.  There is a lot of iron in our blood and we are told to keep it up by eating certain vegetables.  We cannot separate earth from us and us from earth.  This is why the way Jesus talks makes sense to the people. At the same time he stretches their minds, their imagination and their souls.  We feel the same way. We get it and we don’t get it.  It makes sense and at the same time it doesn’t.   You see the seed is the spiritual, it is faith.  If we are infertile soil for the seed it means we have no eye for God, no desire to search for God.  If there are thorns growing all over the soil then that means that we put obstacles up to faith and spirituality: this could be our busyness or our selfishness or our pride.  If the soil is in the wrong place, nutrients and water can’t reach it.

Friends, Northern Calfornia is a blessed place for wine.  Great climates, differing temperatures, a variety of sheltered valleys.  Wine experts talk of the “terroir,” meaning the soil and that which the soil absorbs.  It comes out in the subtleties of taste.  You can taste the eucalyptus or the cherry in the wine.  The wine and the earth are extensions of each other.  Friends, what is your terroir?  If we were to analyze your spiritual life, what would we find: bitterness, joy, resentment, anger, sadness, love.  What would we find if we take a soil sample, a spiritual sample much like a lab test at the time of your physical when they measure your iron level?   Can a spiritual seed grow, can faith flourish, what is in your soil and how do you care for the soil?  How far are you from the water?  How does your garden grow? May God’s Holy Spirit find a place to grow.  May the tree be strong and flourish. May the garden of your life flourish. Thanks be to God.