The great German theologian and philosopher of the late 13th / early 14th century, Meister Eckhart, once said “God is at home. It’s we who have gone out for a walk.” This seems to be saying something about the awareness, or lack of it, that God is here all the time, surrounding us, in us, at every moment of our daily lives. However, many times, at least for me, the “busyness” of my day with work, schedules, responsibilities, entertainment, etc., distract me (to say the least) to this awareness that God is “home” in each moment. I seem to put up unintentional and intentional blinders to that presence.
The pop-country singer and comedian from the 1970’s, Ray Stevens, recorded a song entitled “Turn Your Radio On,” which seems to also address this issue of God being accessible despite our awareness of that fact. As the lyrics go, “don’t you know that everybody is a radio receiver…turn your radio on and listen to the music in the air.” So, here again, it’s a matter of allowing ourselves, or preparing ourselves, to receive the grace of God coming to us at every moment. Sounds simple enough, right? …NOT!
This difficulty is described today in Mark’s account of what is known as the “Parable of the Sower” (MK 4:1-20). As the story goes, the “sower” sows seeds, and I might say rather clumsily, with the result that some of the seeds fall on the pavement, others fall into thorn bushes, still others land on rocks, and some actually get into some “good soil.” Although the point is made that the crowds can’t figure out what this all may mean, Jesus pulls the disciples aside and gives a quite literal meaning of how each area wherein seeds fell represents the manner in which we all may hear or “receive” the “seed,” or as he tells us, the “word” of God.
Even though Jesus gives this literal meaning to the parable, I believe there is in the Gospel story also this issue of awareness of God as always present in our lives. We are “receivers” of the word of God, in so many ways, although we miss countless opportunities on a daily basis. We look for signs, sometimes associated with specific places (church), to intentionally experience God. But, isn’t it possible and actually true that God is always calling to us, and not from a distance, but right next to us, and even within us all the time? As “receivers,” we pick up a lot of distracting static that prevents us from not only this awareness, but more importantly our ability to respond to this awareness. These are the seeds that hit the pavement, land in shallow ground, get choked by thorns, etc. When we can allow ourselves to be present to God’s presence, in the situation we find ourselves in right now, regardless of what it is, we have the opportunity as “good soil,” to sprout and bear fruit.
But I also think that we could also easily be seen as the “sower” in the story, and actually the “seeds” themselves. Look at it this way. If we can agree that God is here now in this moment, in this person, in this car driving with me, in the person in the car next to me trying to cut in front of me, in this child whining, in this flower in the garden I am admiring, then everything matters and has effects upon everything else. As Ray Stevens says, “everyone is a radio receiver” – so what I say and do, although I may not be aware of it, has an effect on others (people and all of creation)! In this way, I am “sower.” And I realize that I am clumsy sometimes with how I engage myself in the world and sow the “seeds” I have been given. Sometimes the seeds are gifts and sometimes they are wounds.
The “seeds” that wound are many times tied to unreal expectations that cloud my ability to see what’s in right in front of my face. I know that I sometimes walk into situations with preconceived negative notions of how it will turn out, and most times it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. And when it does, I feel contently justified and I have now added another layer of varnish to MY perspective on things. So how do I try to break this addictive cycle? Simple breathing makes me pause and in that moment, if I just feel that breathing, it can change everything. I know that may sound crazy, but try it. It’s a small but sometimes powerful way of acknowledging God in the moment and potentially moving forward in that awareness.
When we are able to become aware in this way, we realize that, in a way, we “give” God to each other in always imperfect but many times very beautiful ways. When we are able to do this in the awareness that God is home in our heart and actions, our clumsy “sowing” of the seeds can produce abundant and compassionate fruit, sometimes beyond our ability to see.
So, when you go “out for a walk” “turn your radio on and listen to music of the air” – the sensitivity that everything you do and say, everything you are, and everybody and everything else is, part of this wonderful ever-flowing God-environment – the power of three – “sower, seed, and soil!”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTPmCSu_55M
Peace,
Thomas