Dear Tom,
In trying to compare our faiths by reading and study, and this morning I came across a beautiful summary. “Every thought that comes to a Sufi’s mind, every impulse, every word he speaks, is to him like a seed, a seed that falls in this soil of life and takes root. In this way he finds that nothing is lost; every good deed, every little act of kindness, of love done to anybody will someday rise as a plant and bear fruit.” – Hazrat Khan. That’s a pretty high standard, my friend.
Jesus too talked about seeds. There’s the mustard seed that moves mountains and creates great bushes where birds nestle. (Mark 4:26-32) and the parable of the sower of seeds. ( Matthew 13:3-9). I don’t read much about seeds anymore. I hope teachers still teach kids about planting seeds in paper cups. It may be because we’ve allowed chemical companies to patent and copyright seeds, and they now control seeds in ways that we don’t want to know about in our society. But I get off message. Jesus’ message is not dissimilar to Hazrat Khan’s. The kingdom of God is much like planting of seeds, and that every act of kindness brings forth a bush that not only bears fruit, but provides shade and comfort to many.
In some way our call is much like the American folk hero, Johnny Appleseed. Our call is to plant seeds wherever we go, every day.
Your friend, Webb
Brother Webb:
You say you don’t read much about seeds anymore. So I share this sonnet which includes “spirit’s seed.”
http://thesonneteer.blogspot.com/2010/01/to-make-each-hour-holy.html
Thanks for your words of consistent study and insight.
Bless,
Roger
How wonderful. You also wrote it on my birthday, how fitting. Webb