I went to hear
Rev. Jim McConnell speak this morning because I knew the theme was bleak
midwinter or the season of our discontent. I knew this would be relevant to me as I have sometimes felt less than patient as I recuperate surgery. Especially with the tasks of readying for our departure, I have wanted to be more productive than I am capable of being right now.
Jim shared about having taking
courses in soil in college and about the value of letting the fields lie
fallow. Farmers used to routinely do this. Far from being a wasted season, leaving the soil unseeded after being
ploughed and harrowed is the appropriate action to create greater fertility. In
fact, the term even applies to ideas, as an idea or state of mind that is
undeveloped or inactive is ripe with potentiality.
Jim said LIFE
will ask you to answer the big questions for yourself. He said it will not be
something you read in a book, or something a teacher or preacher or philosopher
tells you. The answer is not something you can figure out or calculate. It is
something that you become aware of.He said the answer will always come if you are willing to wait for it.
He shared some
great stories of the faithfulness of seeking and finding. He also shared the
story of Jonah. Most people think of that story as Jonah and the Whale, but
after hearing Jim today, I will forever think of it as Jonah and the Worm.
You see, God
told Jonah to go to the city of Nineveh, a city full of wickedness. Jonah was
to give them a warning. Hmmm.... Rather than follow God's command, as the story
is written, Jonah set sail in the opposite direction. Although I have never
been to Niveveh, I certainly have had my share of rebelling against the
guidance I had to move in a certain direction.
Well, as luck would
have it, a huge storm came up and Jonah's companions recognize that this is no
ordinary storm. The sailors are said to have cast lots to determine "whose
god is responsible." The lot fell on Jonah and they heaved him overboard!
Most folks who
grew up with familiarity with the Judeo Christian myths remember that Jonah spends
three days in the belly of the fish, gets barfed out onto the shore, and has
the change of heart that he best get to Nineveh to share that warning, which he
did. After giving the warning, expecting the destruction within the 40 days, Jonah
leaves the city, but stays close. He finds a shade plant and is content to wait
to see the action.
Now enter the
worm....
The way the story is told, God causes a worm to bite the plant's root and it withers. Without its shade, Jonah becomes very uncomfortable, and he grieves the death of the plant. He wants to die to be out of his misery. The lesson is one of compassion—for the people of Nineveh and for Jonah.
As I continue my healing journey in
the Florida sunshine, this is my sacred intention: I will have compassion for
myself and welcome this time to lie fallow. I will rest. I will enjoy nature.
Spring will come, and with it, new life will grow in the fertile soil of my
life.
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| A beautiful view from the deck... |
