Parables
If you want to remember something, put it into a story.
He said to them, "Is a lamp brought in to be put under the bushel basket, or under the bed, and not on the lampstand? For there is nothing hidden, except to be disclosed; nor is anything secret, except to come to light. Let anyone with ears to hear listen!" And he said to them, "Pay attention to what you hear; the measure you give will be the measure you get, and still more will be given you. For to those who have, more will be given; and from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away." He also said, "The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come." He also said, "With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade." With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it; he did not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything in private to his disciples. - Mark 4:21-34
Jesus was a master storyteller.
His approach was simple. Give them something to remember, something informative, but challenging, something that makes them think.
His parables were a particularly memorable because they were short stories that did more than communicate a lesson or moral. They were keys to understanding God.
In today's Gospel reading, Jesus provides basic instruction to his disciples on how to hear what the parables are teaching.
The more they listen and seek to understand, the greater will be the wisdom and knowledge they receive.
He was teaching them how God reveals Himself. Through careful observation of God's creation, we gain understanding.
The world can be challenging, taking from those who have little and giving to those who have much. But it is through the eyes and ears of those who seek God that true understanding comes.
The parables stay with us as planted images in our memory, waiting for the moment in our lives when the circumstances arise that make everything clear.
It is then that the tiny bit of faith makes all the difference.
It is then that God's grace becomes apparent, because it was not meant to be hidden, but revealed to all.
In our striving to be like the lamp, we learn that we have to be out there, sharing the light with all, or the light loses its value.
More to come...