First the Blade

Hello all, 

Every year I look forward to the harvest season. This year it has brought me to a reflection on the coming of God’s Kingdom. In the area our family lives we have been blessed with an abundance of fields ready for reaping. Recently when passing by a corn field I remembered a story. 

When we moved to a rural town it was early spring and the countryside was blooming. The most beautiful display was a vast field of yellow wildflowers we drove by on the way to daily Mass. 

The field in bloom

 It was a glorious sight which stirred up gratitude within me for the blessing of wide open spaces. 

We admired this beauty for several weeks. However, as seasons change so must the scenery.

One day we noticed the whole field had wilted almost overnight. 

Within a matter of days the golden glow had disappeared and an unsightly brown had taken over. 

The barren field

The once beautiful spectacle was now a dry and withered eyesore. 

The quick death made it obvious the flowers were killed so the field could be cleared for some purpose. We started to speculate that maybe it was going to be built on. 

Being new to rural life we still had more to understand about the changing seasons of agriculture, so it was easy to make assumptions. 

 I thought more about the field being built on and what a disappointment this would be. Land lost to residential growth was a familiar concept to us.

Some background to this story: We had just moved from a suburban neighborhood that had been located in the midst of quiet countryside until a builder came in with a master plan. Soon to follow were bulldozers, noise and a departure of the beauty we once knew. This experience played a role in our discernment to move to wide open spaces. 

I did not welcome the possibility of this happening again in our area and wasn’t up for living a repeat. 

As the weeks passed I became more convinced of the field’s fate each time I drove by and saw the desolation. 

I dreaded residential growth coming to our area and felt angry at whomever was about to move it here. 

Each day in our drive by I noted the progress. At one point the dirt appeared to have been moved which further confirmed my suspicions. I was anticipating the arrival of the bulldozer any day now. 

But then one day we noticed something. 

Tiny blades of green poking out of the soil. 

Which grew into a noticeable pattern of rows. 

Well, I guess there was a different plan for this field then we thought.

I was relieved to see this was happening, but also felt foolish for grumbling about a scenario that didn’t even exist.  

I sensed God had a message in this for me. 

Over the coming weeks as I watched the sprouts grow into plants, I began to feel the Holy Spirit teach me about trust…

…and waiting

It is true the wildflowers were killed. But for a much greater purpose than we thought. 

  There was no arrival of bulldozers or builder with a master plan as I had anticipated. But instead The Master arrived with His plan. 

“For I know well the plans I have in mind for you, plans for your welfare and not for woe, so as to give you a future of hope.” Jeremiah 29:11

This is how it is with us and The Holy Spirit. He brings change into our lives when we think all is well, to prepare the soil for something new. 

“See, I am doing something new! Now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?” Isaiah 43:19

Although beautiful to look at, the flowers were not meant to last. They were actually weeds. What came next was designed to bear fruit. 

“It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain.” John 15:16 

On our spiritual journey we experience periods of God’s closeness and consolations, but also trials and darkness when God feels far. 

How we respond to the trials is very important so we do not fear the worst. This is when it is important to persevere in prayer and Trust. This equips us with eyes of faith to see past the desolation, to the unseen where God is doing His work.

“As we look not to what is seen, but to what is unseen. What is seen is transitory, but what is unseen is eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:18 

The same is true in our relationships, especially  in family life. 

In the sacrament of Marriage we experience joy and The Cross. We journey through periods of wedded bliss and also the difficult trials when God is clearing the field.

The trials require effort to focus on the unseen work of heaven and avoid the temptation to judge or become angry with our spouse. Prayer will help us to have patience and Trust as God is moving the dirt and planting the seeds of The Kingdom in the marriage sacrament. 

And it is the same for parenting. There are many celebrations in raising our young, but also great challenges. New seasons of child rearing unexpectedly arrive which we feel unequipped for. It takes prayerful effort to avoid discouragement and frustration and to Trust it is only a season in which God is growing them. 

“See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains. You too must be patient.” James 5:7

 

The same principle holds true for the journey of living in our times. 

Like many of you reading this, I grew up in a much simpler time. Although not perfect, it was certainly more peaceful. People generally knew who they were and the family was considered a model for society. Telephones were connected to walls and people spent time together with undivided attention. Things were mostly good. 

Now it seems we are living in a time of growing distress. Evil has a grip on the world and we wonder when it will end. Many people wonder why we must live through such times as these and fear what could come next. 

My brothers and sisters, Saint Paul tells us: “where sin increased, grace overflowed all the more” Romans 5:20. Distress is in the eye of the beholder. These are our times which we were created for. We have been given the mind, heart, gifts and graces for these times to help us thrive and build His Kingdom. 

 “The field is the world, the good seed the children of the kingdom.” Matthew 13:48

I wrote here : https://hisbreathfills.wordpress.com/2021/02/24/unpaved-road-ahead/ about Trusting when we don’t know what lies around the bend. In this story, I almost turned around and missed the glory of the Great Continental Divide because of fear. The road was bumpy and I lacked Trust in what I couldn’t see. 

In the wake of the dead wildflower field I experienced something similar. My field of vision became clouded from judgement and fear. When I noticed the dirt had been moved, I worried about what came next.  

But it was only the tilling of the soil. 

I believe God: the Master Builder, is incorporating His plan of building His Kingdom here on earth. 

“This is how it is with the kingdom of God; it is as if a man were to scatter seed on the land and would sleep and rise night and day and the seed would sprout and grow, he knows not how.” Mark 4:26-27 

The Holy Spirit is moving in our times to create something new. What can appear to be devastation is really a season of preparation. 

I believe we will experience something glorious just beyond this era, in a new season. A time of peace and an outpouring of The Holy Spirit. I wrote here: https://hisbreathfills.wordpress.com/2021/11/23/giving-birth/ about preparation for birth. Labor pains can come on suddenly, but if we are trained up in focusing on the things of heaven and how to breathe, we will thrive through the contractions. 

The Holy Spirit is our breath. When we have a relationship with this person of the Blessed Trinity, we have peace and are able to live in the joy of The Kingdom in all circumstances. 

Just as God first sent us the Holy Spirit in the early rains of the birth of Our Church, I believe He will come alive in Our Church just when we need it… in the late rains. 

Growth takes time but God is in the waiting. 

“Of its own accord the land yields fruit, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear.” Mark 4:28 

“And when the grain is ripe, he wields the sickle at once, for the harvest has come.” Mark 4:29

As I continue to pass by this field I am reminded of God’s goodness.  

God is always working, but we do not know what He is doing “For who has known the mind of The Lord?” 1 Corinthians 2:16. He takes care of all things in proper time.

He is a mystery and for this I am thankful because it reminds me of how Great He is and how little I am. The seeds of His Kingdom grow, but we know not how.

We must be patient in seasons of waiting… first comes the blade.

The best is yet to come. Be patient, Trust and look forward to the joy of The Holy Spirit.