Generous to a fault…..

By Sr Susan Richerts:

In a poem by Mary Oliver called “Sometimes”, she has a verse that reads –

Instructions for living a life:

“Pay attention

Be astonished

Tell about it.” 

Just before reading the poem, I had been sat in the garden musing on who knows what, partly thinking of the Gospel reading for the day about the Sower but paying attention to what was happening before my eyes.  Having shared prayer using this poem, it struck me that I do pay attention and am often astonished by the little things I see but rarely do I tell about it. Perhaps here is a recipe for good community? I want to tell you what I was thinking the other day when reflecting on the parable of the Sower.

Someone once shared when reflecting on the parable of the Sower, that more seed was wasted than ended up in the good soil required for the seed to grow. As I sat outside, I watched a steady stream of seeds from the three lime trees at the bottom of our garden, fall onto the lawn and create a carpet of seeds. There is no way that the majority of these seeds will ever encounter the rich, nutrient soil need for the seed to bury itself and then slowly grow towards the light. Neither have we enough birds to scatter them elsewhere.

As Religious is this not what we are called to do? We too are to scatter seed far and wide and not be concerned where it ends up but rather be of generous spirit. Further, to do this year after year, knowing that for the most part the seed will land on ground that will not yield any fruit. But should that stop us? Perhaps in terms of today’s economics – yes. But surely not in terms of God’s economics. At the end of the day what we do is God’s work not ours – we are but the sowers and we have to sow far and wide. Who knows where a seed will end up and eventually produce fruit? But that’s not our role – we are called to sow.

 Of course – there’s a greater fall of seeds when the wind blows through the trees….