Courageous Imagination: Soil, Seeds and Soup
Dialogue Reflection
The following is a dialoge between Mark and Janet, reflecting on three of Jesus’ “seed” parables, and on three video sketches by Ted Schwartz, in which he imaginatively retells and explores these parables.
Mark: So Janet, we just heard these 3 seed Scriptures and watched Ted’s Schwartz’ imaginative re-telling of them for our time. And we watched that story of the tiny seed in Children’s Time. It stirred up all sorts of thoughts in my head. It feels to me like these are perfect parables for the uncertain time we are in right now – in our world and in the church. Planting seeds is all about uncertainty. It is not an exact science when you scatter seeds. How do you know where it is going to fall – You don’t. 1 in 4 – I don’t like those odds! But if you don’t sow and plant, nothing will grow. No crop. I think you gotta sow. Maybe it is more like baseball hitters, where 1 in 4 is about average and a few hit better – and we watch the game and get excited to see what might happen. We are okay with those odds. What if we took enough risks and kept trying new things here at SJMC to deal with changing times and were okay if only 1 in 4 of our ideas actually took off and took root? Is that what Courageous Imagination means? It sounds to me like we need lots of faith, trust and hope.
So Janet, I am curious – what is rattling around in your head – in, out, bing, bang, boom and sticking with you, starting to root?
Janet: I am fascinated by seeds (I always have been)–how something so small contains all the information and energy it needs to grow into what it is meant to be, but somehow becomes something so much more! How one seed can produce 30 or 60 or 100 times more than itself! It’s incredible! And I think Jesus wants us to catch some of that awesome power of the kingdom of God. How the gifts of the kingdom start off so small, like small acts of kindness or generosity, and they can have such oversized results! We just never know what one small act of loving kindness can set in motion! Maybe that is especially important to remember during this pandemic–we can’t do a lot of the bigger events and things we enjoy so much as a church, but we can do small things–call someone, send a card, make a casserole or a batch of cookies, repair or fix small things for someone else, knit a prayer shawl, piece and knot comforters…the list goes on.
And I also like how Ted describes the mustard plant as short and scruffy, not very pretty. Jesus could have picked any of the more majestic trees for his parable, but he chose the mustard plant, more of a shrub really. Ted talks about how it is really hard to get started, but then once it takes root it comes up all over–kind of pesky, and certainly not in neat rows. It is such a good reminder that we cannot predict how the kingdom of God will catch and take shape or who will join in with what God is doing. Our expectations get challenged and reshaped regularly by what God is up to. We are often surprised by where and when God’s love takes root and grows.
Mark: The other things we need to do is simply to wait. Seeds get planted, but then nothing happens for a long time. ‘There is nothing we can do to make it grow faster or better. I love when they are trying to encourage this small plant – play music, sing to it. You can do it! But it won’t grow any faster. It doesn’t work that way.
I’m not good at waiting. I do things quickly and like instant results. Initiate. Plan. Action.Get er done! This week I waited over 2 cold hours in line to get 5 free rapid tests and was muttering the whole time under my frozen breath. I have found myself more impatient in this round of pandemic shutdowns, here we go again, more pivoting, more decision-making, so many of the things that give me life have been taken away again. I also have some of that fear back. How do I stay grounded, live in the moment even when not much is happening. I need to keep reminding myself that I am in a good situation with good support systems. Even in worship, part of me wants to just keep it simple, comforting, and not explore any sort of imagination at all.
Maybe what we all need is that spiritual discipline of waiting – those spiritual properties of winter – darkness, surrender, patience, dormancy, rest. There is nothing we can do to make it grow faster or better – but trust – all in its good season.
Janet: Yes. It can be easy to be overwhelmed by fear–to be afraid of what the future might hold. But I think, in these parables, Jesus invites us to anticipate the future with excitement–to dream and imagine what could be; to get creative; to wonder how else things could be; to wonder what this seed will become. There is some mystery and surprise here. We wait with expectation, we keep checking for new growth, wondering what has happened to the seeds we planted. We even get attached to them. We are invested in them. We want them to succeed. But in the video, the people are looking for where they thought they had planted, but they end up being surprised–finding growth somewhere they didn’t expect.
Mark: I loved the little subtheme Ted had going with preparing soup as he tells these parables. He’s chopping and throwing things in the pot. At one point he looks frantically for the recipe and can’t find it. “Probably going to end up with a different kind of soup… maybe it will be a better soup?” The ingredient list also keeps expanding – getting more and more diverse, and everything is needed. It’s not just one thing – vegetables, meat, spices, wine, water – it takes them all to make soup. This seems to be a key to the kind of church we are called to be. One of Ted’s best lines – ‘You didn’t think you were going to tell the kingdom where, when and if it’s going to grow?’ Oh, that’s funny!’ Did you notice the introductions and endings to each video – a kind of subtle message? Who was speaking and the so called ‘Mennonite’ names listed that kept getting more diverse and intercultural. I loved that I recognized so many of the names at the end – Vang, Smith-Morrison, Osinkosky, Lee, Moua, Gonzalia… I know these people and the faces that go with these names – these are friends and colleagues that are integral parts of the church and conference we have become. There are lots of seeds that have taken root and popped up in unexpected places. We are ending up with a different kind of soup… and it is wonderful!
Janet: One of the things that really caught my attention was the idea that the mustard seed has all sorts of healing properties. Ted lists a whole bunch of things you can treat with mustard: a cough, an itch, a sore, a toothache, a bellyache, asthma, fainting… “it’s like a miracle,” he says. “You should always know where you keep the mustard–it’s a healing thing.”
It reminds me of our Mennonite Church Canada vision statement. There is a line that says, “God’s healing and hope flow through us to the world.” The idea that the church can be part of a healing ministry is powerful. What does the gospel of Jesus Christ have to offer that is healing in a time like this? I think that is an important question.
Well, you have heard Mark and I share a few of the things that caught our attention in this morning’s service. What is rattling around in your head? What seeds have been planted in the soil of your heart? Let’s continue the conversation. Join in our Zoom worship response time at 11:15 this morning to share your thoughts. Join us on this Courageous Imagination journey over the next 7 weeks, as we listen for what new thing God might be doing among us. This next song, called “Gathered Home,” performed by The Walking Roots band, picks up on so many of the themes we talked about this morning. But it especially anticipates some of the joy of the harvest and what happens when we all “sow seeds of loving deeds.”