Seeds of Change

MORNING
Psalm 33 • Ecclesiasticus 10: 1-8, 12-18 • James 5: 7-10

EVENING
Psalm 107: 1-32 • Micah 4: 1-5 • Revelation 21: 1-7

It seems like the last thing the world wants to hear right now is – be patient. Our communities are groaning, quaking, ready for change. It is past time for important transformation on many fronts. The pandemic has unveiled many shortcomings of our current health care system. Many are confronting the racism that has flowed through the veins of our nation since its birth. This is not a time to extol the virtue of patience, lives are on the line. And so, my first reading of James this morning fell flat.

James tells us: “See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains.” We’re left to fill in the blanks. We know the farmer had to work the soil. A valuable crop certainly needs rain, but it also requires someone to pull up the weeds and attend to its growth. When seeds are first planted the farmer waits to watch them sprout and rejoices in their continual growth. But the farmer planted the seeds in the first place and knows the potential to appear and bear fruit.

I planted a garden this spring. I didn’t have a chance to start the plants early enough indoors because of the arrival of our baby. Once I recovered enough to walk down to our garden plot, I sowed the seeds directly into the soil. I crossed my fingers and thought to myself, “whatever takes root will be good enough for this season.” It’s been a couple of months now and some things have grown while others have failed.

It is easier for me to hear James’ call for patience in the face of our current cultural climate if I keep this in mind. Staring at fallow soil where nothing has been sown and waiting for sprouts is a fool’s errand. But we know seeds of change have been planted. And it is not too late to plant for the next season, either.

Written by Samantha Clare, Director of Christian Formation

Samantha has a passion for spreading Jesus’ call for social justice, and she helps people to make connections between their daily and spiritual lives so that they can bring their whole and authentic selves to the world.