Patrick
We can be very selective in what we hear.
Again he began to teach beside the sea. Such a very large crowd gathered around him that he got into a boat on the sea and sat there, while the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land. He began to teach them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: 'Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and it sprang up quickly, since it had no depth of soil. And when the sun rose, it was scorched; and since it had no root, it withered away. Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. Other seed fell into good soil and brought forth grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.' And he said, 'Let anyone with ears to hear listen!' - Mark 4:1-9
We know this as the parable of the sower, because the sower indiscriminately scatters seeds wherever they may fall, regardless of the knowledge of where they will best take root.
Whenever I read this I am reminded of a rock-faced cliff I saw in Zion National Park in Utah that had more than one tree growing out of it. Somehow, in the cracks and crevices of that rock, seeds managed to take hold and find enough nourishment to grow into huge pine trees.
If there is even the slightest possibility that could happen, why not cast your seeds there?
Today is St. Patrick's Day, the day we hold marches and dress in green. But who was Patrick and why do we celebrate his life?
He was born Maewyn Succat, not Patrick, into a very religious family. His father was a deacon and his grandfather a priest in England. While he is remembered for spreading the Word in Ireland, that wasn't his plan.
He was captured by Irish slave traders at the age of 16 and was forced to work as a shepherd. He eventually escaped back to England, but was called back in a dream.
So, he went to France to study and became a priest. He was given the blessing of the Pope to travel back to Ireland as a missionary, where he used the shamrock to explain the Trinity.
We might not think of Ireland as rocky, infertile soil, but it is not the land that soaks up the Word, but the hearts and minds of the people.
So, what is the lesson here for us?
Patrick was clever enough to find something familiar to explain something foreign and complex, and I think that is a good thing to know how to do. When it comes to sharing our faith with people we may think are rocky ground, we might want to start with a simple example.
How has Christ touched us? How does the Holy Spirit move us? How do we feel like God is with us?
That's a trinity talk right there.
Who knows, trees may start to grow out of rocks.
More to come...