#175 - Mystery

Is it true that the “tree” that grows from the mustard seed is actually considered more of a weed in the region where Jesus lived?

It’s this kind of unexpected tidbit that makes me fall even deeper in love with Jesus and his style of teaching. No matter how learned we are, there are still surprises such as this; things that invite us to ponder each parable anew and reexamine what we “think” we know about the great mystery we call God.

In the atrium with the children we describe parables as “short stories Jesus told that hold a mystery.” They are not mysterious because Jesus is trying to conceal something from us or keep the Kingdom of God hidden from us, but rather it is because the mystery of God is so big and beyond our understanding, the closest we can come with our little brains to understanding is through metaphors, or parables.

The first thing that parables teach us is that “mystery” is not something different than our everyday lives; rather it is the real meaning – the secret truth – the hidden seed at the very heart of our lives. There is no “right” or “wrong” way to interpret a parable because each holds a surplus of meaning that we can never exhaust; a mystery not in the sense of a puzzle or problem to be solved but rather as the sometimes-elusive depth of life where meaning dwells.

Tis true that the mustard seed isn’t highly prized. It is used to flavor food and some parts of the plant are thought to have medicinal properties, but it is also considered something of nuisance.
Some translations call it a tree, but it’s actually more of a shrub. It can grow up to 12’ feet high and its stems can be quite thick, but it’s just your run-of-the-mill bush. And yes, some even regarded it as a weed and advise not to dare plant it in your garden lest it crowd out all the other plants and literally take over.

In the atrium, we encourage the children to touch and examine the grain-of-sand-sized mustard seeds we have from the holy land and invite them to ponder - what did Jesus mean when he said the Kingdom of God is like this small, insignificant, relatively unimportant seed? And the children say…

Maybe Jesus chose this teeny-tiny seed to say that in God’s creation even something as small as the head of a pin has amazing power within it; it may start small and hidden but then grows to be surprisingly big! And though we know that plants need water, sun & time to grow, we cannot control or cause the growth ourselves. Only God has that kind of power. So, it does not help the sower to be anxious about it.

Maybe we can hear encouragement in Jesus’ words, saying to us that our little mustard seed efforts to love are not in vain. If we remain hopeful and patient, the day will come when the results of the kingdom's silent, steady growth will be quite impressive. Even if the seeds we plant today look rather wimpy.

Mother Teresa said, “What I do - you cannot do; but what you do - I cannot do.
But we can all do small things, with great love, and together we can do something wonderful.”

So, perhaps the good news for us today is that despite our current discouragements - if we continue to plant small seeds with great love and have faith that God will provide the nourishment for growth, maybe that is enough. We may never see the enormous and powerful plant that grows, but if we do our best to be thoughtful and intentional about doing something loving with our lives, the kingdom will come…slow but sure…it will come.

Send your "Crazy Catholic Questions" Lisa Brown at dre@ctredeemer.org or read past columns at: http://crazycatholicquestions.blogspot.com.