Curiosity

Sorry the audio was not as good on this one! And I totally dropped the phone at the end 😆

SEED SOWER PARABLE

That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach. And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears, let him hear.” Matthew 13:1-9 ESV

Read Luke and Mark's account of the same parable!

Luke 8:4–8 Mark 4:1-9

 

I really love these verses from Isaiah! God knows EACH plant and what they need WHEN, and just as He is faithful to instruct the farmer in his work and life, He will for each of us when we ask!

 Listen to me now.
Give me your closest attention.
Do farmers plow and plow and do nothing but plow?
Or harrow and harrow and do nothing but harrow?
After they’ve prepared the ground, don’t they plant?
Don’t they scatter dill and spread cumin,
Plant wheat and barley in the fields
and raspberries along the borders?
They know exactly what to do and when to do it.
Their God is their teacher.
^27-29 And at the harvest, the delicate herbs and spices,
the dill and cumin, are treated delicately.
On the other hand, wheat is threshed and milled, but still not endlessly.
The farmer knows how to treat each kind of grain.
He’s learned it all from GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies,
who knows everything about when and how and where. Isaiah 28:23-27 MSG

Willing to be Seen

 

TIME AND CHANCE HAPPEN TO THEM ALL 

(Ecclesiastes 9:11)

I returned and saw under the sun that—
The race is not to the swift,
Nor the battle to the strong,
Nor bread to the wise,
Nor riches to men of understanding,
Nor favor to men of skill;
But time and chance happen to them all.
¹² For man also does not know his time:
Like fish taken in a cruel net,
Like birds caught in a snare,
So the sons of men are snared in an evil time,
When it falls suddenly upon them. Ecclesiastes 9:11-12

Boundaries

Here are some extra pictures highlighting the symmetrical and asymmetrical leaves!

 

Dawn Chorus

 

About the Dawn Chorus Phenomenon

https://www.rspb.org.uk/whats-happening/news/the-dawn-chorus-all-you-need-to-know-about-natures-big-show

Bird and Plant Relationship

https://birdsinthetree.com/do-birds-wake-up-plants/

Music For Plants

https://commonsensehome.com/music-for-plants/

Sonic Bloom

https://dancarlsonsonicbloom.com/

Seeds & Stewardship

I was off on the oak tree stat. "Oak trees take decades to mature and one oak produces more than 2,000 acorns every year, but only 1 in 10,000 acorns will manage to develop into an oak tree"

https://wisconsinwoodlands.org/wp-content/uploads/oaks-and-acorns-narrative.pdf

Eight generations of native seed cultivation reduces plant fitness relative to the wild progenitor population

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8288025/

 

Perennials & Humility

Sowing in Sadness

Yesterday was Saturday and I had a lot I had to do and wanted to get done-- including the Tea Formulation Gather prep and start more seeds and get the growing station setup. I was feeling discouraged and sad and just frustrated. Like a thick cloud of darkness settled in and clouded all my thoughts. At one point I thought, I don't want to plant seeds while I'm in a bad mood. I don't want to put that energy into them. It would be such a stark contrast from last planting when I was so excited and felt stirred up over what God is doing. I almost just threw the towel in for the day.

I don't actually believe that though. That's just some *woo hoo* nonsense.

So I went on DOING what I had set out to do. I set the shelves. Rigged up the grow lights and the heating pad. I prepped the soil and the tray. And I planted as I planned-- even as I was grumpy and sad and discouraged.

And then while I was planting a verse from Psalms came to mind:

⁵ Those who sow in tears

Shall reap in joy.

⁶ He who continually goes forth weeping,

Bearing seed for sowing,

Shall doubtless come again with rejoicing,

Bringing his sheaves with him. Psalms 126:4-6

Scripture says the opposite of the good vibes only mentality! God isn't nearly as concerned about my bad mood getting bad vibes in my work. Sometimes all I can do is put one foot in front of the other. And DO the next thing. And that DOING is evidence of FAITH even if I feel like I can hardly muster and feelings of faith. It is, I am seeing, and act of my WILL. Not the thoughts of my mind, or dependent on if I can imagine how God will do it. Nor my emotions and how I feel in the moment. It is in fact an ACT of my will.

I picture salvation like a seed germinating. All of this life is bound up in the seed with no capacity on its own to unpack it. It needs the life activating water to ignite germination. Irrevocable growth. The faith is opening to receive. How different are our paths we each take to soften that hard husk on our hearts to a place to receive and say YES to new life in Christ. 

The truth is, there are many areas of my life that constantly need the salvific work of God. They need the life activating water to transform what ever it is into something that is LIFE GIVING. Sometimes I need that DARKNESS to see the futility of what I am doing and planning and philosophizing on my own means. Seeds without water bring no life. I need to receive HIS life to be life giving to others in all I am doing.

BELEIVE IN THE DARKNESS WHAT YOU HAVE SEEN IN THE LIGHT

Lilias Trotter