Biblical Meanderings: Mark 4:26-33 (Patreon)

He also said, “The kingdom of God is like a man who scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, he sleeps and wakes, and the seed sprouts and grows, he knows not how. All by itself, the earth produces a crop. First the stalk, then the head, then full grain in the head. As soon as the grain is being yielded, he sends out the sickle, because the harvest is at hand.”

This is one of many parables where Jesus talks about the Kingdom of God. Jesus seems to both relish and struggle with describing what the kingdom of God is like: in the verse after this one he says, “What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it?” This is his basic issue as a teacher: how do you communicate what lies beyond words? How do you put something that exists beyond any rational framework into rational images? Through these parables, we see clear patterns in how Jesus chooses to do it. He does not try to describe the kingdom directly, but uses similes to say, “it’s like this.” If you understand this thing, you’re closer to understanding this other thing.

Most of his comparisons stem from the natural world, which gives us a strong impression that God’s kingdom can best be glimpsed by observing and understanding natural processes. This comparison draws up the image of a wheat stalk. The literal process of how wheat grows is laid out clearly here. When wheat is first coming up, it shows up as green blades, just like regular blades of grass. As it grows taller, it starts to develop these little thatched heads. Then those heads develop berries within them - that’s the grain that you harvest and use for food.

In saying, “the kingdom of God is like this”, we’re being asked to apply that natural process to our spiritual and psychological understanding of the world. So through this parable, we’re told that spiritually, we’re always casting seeds. Just as the physical earth catches the physical seeds and turns them into plants, our lives “catch” the seeds that come out of us through our thoughts, speech and deeds. We then reap the consequences, the fruit that comes out of those seeds, whether they be good or bad.

Many examples of this are obvious. I tend to believe that spiritual principles are never very obscure; if you look at your own life, you can see what’s being discussed. I work my body too hard for a week, it starts to shut down. I have pains. I don’t chew my food, I start to have stomach problems. I just read a post on tumblr about someone whose family had a history of stomach problems, and they said it was karmic retribution for an ancestor who failed to commit seppuku correctly. Then their partner told them, “you never chew your food when you eat.” So they started chewing, and the stomach problems went away.

The idea of action and consequence seems so self-evident that it can be easy to overlook. The beauty of this parable is that it casts it as a concrete thing. You do something, you perceive it as a little seed. What is it going to grow?

Maybe this seems burdensome - like too much responsibility. “Why can’t I just take a break from casting seeds sometimes? Why am I always reaping something?” But what’s great is that we can always choose what we’re casting. If you have a handful of wheat seeds, you’re going to get wheat when you plant them. But these inner, spiritual seeds, those are seeds of pure potential. And they’re always coming forth, day and night. So we’re always reaping and always planting at the same time. So even if your current environment is toxic and stressful and you feel overloaded on consequences, you can always restart and cast some good seeds, and your environment will start changing.

So wherever you are, you can just look at the environment and see which seeds it’s possible to plant. If you’re in a boring conversation, plant seeds of patience in yourself. If you’re tired and need to make dinner, plant seeds of endurance. If you have downtime alone, plant seeds of kindness. Take it easy on yourself. And this mindfulness, this conscious choice to plant seeds, will help what you do feel important. We tend to go down the list of chores for the day while our mind is elsewhere, and it feels like we’ve got nothing done at the end of it. By keeping track of where you are and what you’re planting, it’s easier to feel good about what you’re doing.

Video of the wheat-growing process: https://youtu.be/AonJkhqCRwk?si=HMXEXMvdbeWvkpGG