Mark 4:26-29: God’s Harvest of Love
Friday, November 29, 2019
The Gospel of Mark is beautiful in its simplicity. Because of its brevity, we may think of it as less weighty; yet here today we have an example of the depth of Mark. His is the only Gospel which holds this simple parable.
In the Biblia de América, the footnotes tell us that the purpose of this allegory is to give emphasis to the important work of humanity, the grains of wheat. The faithful are to proclaim the Word of God . . . while the success of this work depends solely on God.
This gives fresh importance to our mission. We are seed. We are planted. To the best of our ability and as best we are able in our environment, we are to draw from our roots in order that we might send forth a blade . . . which in turn yields a grain. In due season, this grain will ripen for the harvest.
This cannot be more simple. It cannot be more clear. It cannot be more important.
This mode of living – of becoming what we are meant to become while living closely with other blades that give forth grain in their own due season – requires obedience, perseverance and patience. It also requires close communion with our creator, the master harvester.
We must exercise faith – in trusting that we will survive life among a variety of blades until the harvest time.
We must engender hope – in believing that we will produce grain in abundance.
We must enact love – in making room for all to reach the sun and to soak up whatever rain may fall.
Perhaps what makes this Gospel so intense is that it is likely the first written after the Resurrection, when the flame of the Pentecost and the inspiration of the Ascension were still fresh. Perhaps its concise language and simplicity render its meaning unmistakable. Mark delivers five parables in rapid succession in this chapter, and he succinctly describes the important work of the faithful sandwiched between other stories which are more familiar. We might miss it unless we look for it; and yet here it is. Millennia after they are written, these straightforward words have the power to fill us with wonder at how the direct message of love might change the human experience. We are loved. We are love. All we need do is proclaim this story.
Harvesting in the Himalayas
LA BIBLIA DE LA AMÉRICA. 8th. Madrid: La Casa de la Biblia, 1994. Print.
Written on November 7, 2008, re-written and posted today as a Favorite.
Images from: http://www.frankossen.com/Barefoot%20amid%20the%20Himalayas.htm and http://jp.123rf.com/photo_14000685_wheat-blade-on-wooden-table.html and http://www.foodsubs.com/GrainWheat.html
The Noontimes 
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