Ever listen to five boys who feel an injustice has been done to them?
Know the meaning of the word cacophony? HA It’s one of my favorite words, has bee since Sister Alice taught it to back in freshman year, but I doubt Sister Alice could have understood the meaning of cacophony quite the way I do.
Of course, Sister Alice taught at my all girls’ Catholic high school for more years than I’ve been on the planet.
Come to think of it, I may not have the monopoly on the word cacophony.
But still, ever hear those kids when they think their brother has gotten something they have not?
Cacophony.
As a Mom, that kind of complaining drives me crazy. I really do Love each of my different Boys 100%. Admiring each of their strengths and laughing at their peculiar little quirks, I try to make sure everything “evens out in the end.”
Does that mean I don’t give one kid more one day and another kid more the next?
Nope, but as my father used to say,
Fair isn’t always equal.
Well, I can’t help but think of how my boys’ complaints
He got more ice cream than I did.
He sat in the front last time.
You ALWAYS give it to him.
Blah, blah BLAH…
may kind of reflect my own complaints to my Father.
How come he has that car?
Why don’t I get a vacation like that?
When will I get a house like hers?
Blah, blah BLAH…
Which brings me to today’s Gospel reflection.
On Sunday, we heard from the Gospel of Saint Matthew
Jesus proposed another parable to the crowds, saying:
“The kingdom of heaven may be likened
to a man who sowed good seed in his field.
While everyone was asleep his enemy came
and sowed weeds all through the wheat, and then went off.
When the crop grew and bore fruit, the weeds appeared as well.
The slaves of the householder came to him and said,
‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field?
Where have the weeds come from?’
He answered, ‘An enemy has done this.’
His slaves said to him,
‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’
He replied, ‘No, if you pull up the weeds
you might uproot the wheat along with them.
Let them grow together until harvest;
then at harvest time I will say to the harvesters,
“First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles for burning;
but gather the wheat into my barn.”’
And upon reading this, it occurs to me again how the Lord allows all of His children to grow together in one world. Here, we see a few things.
In the Gospel of Matthew, we see how quickly the enemy snuck in while the man was sleeping to plant seeds of destruction that would fester and grow unnoticed until they took firm root despite the man’s hard work. In the movie, Fireproof they call this outside influence parasites. What parasites are taking over your marriage? Your family? Is it the other woman who may also blinded to the fact that she is influenced by the enemy? Is it an outside force such as internet porn which pops up even when we do not invite it in making it hard for some to resist? Check out this clip from Fireproof.
If video does not display properly, use this link http://youtu.be/t89Hsem2LkI
But something we also see in the Parable of the Weeds Among the Wheat from the Gospel of Matthew is that God does not pluck the shoots before they are grown. Although, just as a farmer knows his crop and can identify his plants from the outset in a way most of us cannot, so too can the Master can identify from the outset in a way we often cannot, the seed that will turn into weeds and who will turn into wheat.
By allowing us to grow side by side, the Father allows us to strengthen our faith as we each reach for the Light shining down.
I think back to that cacophony of complaints I hear from my children about how unfair I am and how hard I try to make sure everything is even in the here and now but don’t sweat it too much, knowing what one kid lacks now I’ll make up for tomorrow and that it wail all even out in the end.
But God doesn’t work that way.
He isn’t even a little concerned about trying to even things out now.
He doesn’t care about the big house your ex-husband has or the car that woman drives or the vacations that couple goes on that you cannot.
And He isn’t going to hope things even out in the end.
In fact, quite the contrary.
God promises things will not even out.
He promises the wheat will be collected and treasured.
And the weed will burn.
And that is why we must continue to pray for the weed.
Because no matter how ugly or strangulating that weeds seems to be, if it does not make amends with God even if not with us, it will be burned in the end. And that is something none of us would wish on anyone.
Unlike the weed seed, the weeds surrounding our lives, threatening to choke us out now have the ability to morph into wheat.
Miracles do happen.
God IS GOOD!
So, if you are one of God’s children sending up a cacophony of complaints to Him, why not learn a lesson from the farmer’s wheat seed which grew serenely closer every day to the Light shining down?
Don’t worry about how unfair things are today. Today is passing. Live for eternity.
What injustices do you see in the world around you? What Blessings can you count instead? Whisper a prayer for the weeds in your life, and speak loudly the praise and thanksgiving for the wheat around you.
God Bless…
