New Face Book post: What kind of dirt are you?

           Everything from what kind of Dog you are, to what kind of animal are you, to who you were in a past life, the list never ends. I am afraid I will soon see 'what kind of poop are you?' It is way too much. The world seems insane with reading facebook, targeted news sites and there is very little listening. Maybe, just maybe there is some hearing but very little listening. Perhaps that is an inherent problem with us humans. We are easily distracted, unable to focus and in spite of the two ears, we often do not really listen to each other. So it is wonder of wonders that I sit here this morning as the sun rises wondering what kind of soil am I?

       I get the parable of today's passage from Mark. I am not as sure where I am or who I am in respect to the reading. Have I really taken in the message of God in my life? Have I offered a nutrient rich 'soil' with which God's message of love in action will flourish within me? I have been searching for an intimate relationship with God my entire life. I try to really hear what God is saying and truly listen to God's message.  I can think of ways in which I have indeed listened and cooperated.  The question still remains however as to how much growth I have yielded or will yield. Am I too shallow? Am I deep enough to produce good strong healthy growth? 

       An interesting side bar here. We inherited a Christmas Cactus from my mother-in-law when she passed. Same old plant, same old soil. Someone had said to place it in a dark room or closet for a day or so to initiate some kind of reset. Lo and behold, the plant that was closeted now blooms with an abundance with magnificent red blooms. I cannot help but wonder if some kind of darkness or reset would help our own growth?  A retreat perhaps, a lonely time in the desert of our own lives?  Same soil, new growth.

         I am still not sure what kind of soil I am. I know that I have to listen earnestly and constantly make the effort to help me bloom into the magnificent flower God created me to be. The same is so very much a truth for you as well.  Listen, learn, blossom and bloom.

Mark 4:1-20

Again he began to teach beside the lake. Such a very large crowd gathered around him that he got into a boat on the lake and sat there, while the whole crowd was beside the lake on the land. He began to teach them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them:‘Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and it sprang up quickly, since it had no depth of soil. And when the sun rose, it was scorched; and since it had no root, it withered away. Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. Other seed fell into good soil and brought forth grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.’ And he said, ‘Let anyone with ears to hear listen!’

 When he was alone, those who were around him along with the twelve asked him about the parables. And he said to them, ‘To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside, everything comes in parables; in order that
“they may indeed look, but not perceive,
   and may indeed listen, but not understand;
so that they may not turn again and be forgiven.” ’

 And he said to them, ‘Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand all the parables? The sower sows the word. These are the ones on the path where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them. And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: when they hear the word, they immediately receive it with joy. But they have no root, and endure only for a while; then, when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away. And others are those sown among the thorns: these are the ones who hear the word, but the cares of the world, and the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things come in and choke the word, and it yields nothing. And these are the ones sown on the good soil: they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.’