Have you ever reflected on why Christ employs agrarian images in his parables? For example, the smallest seed becoming a large bush, the curse of the fig tree, pruning a vine and burning weeds. This leads us to ask, What are some wise agrarian principles for coping with life’s complexities?
The first principle is weeding to create breathing space for plant expansion.
The need for fertilization is a second principle that generates healthy growth.
Timing is yet another critical process. As the Book of Ecclesiastes suggests, there is a time to sow and a time to reap – to strike while the iron is hot and give immediate attention when earnestly needed.
When these principles are summarized, the common denominator is order. As God created order to change chaos into orderly cosmos, so too are Christ’s agrarian parables aimed at living a wholesome ordered life.
When applied to everyday life, these principles touch upon its very core.
Much of my priestly ministry deals with marriage problems. One major reason of the problems is a husband or wife dominating the other. Suffocation often leads to animosity and subsequent divorce.
As plant life needs space to expand and grow, so do couples need their private space to breathe. When each of them respects the other’s space, marriage becomes much more blissful. However, as weeding is required for plant growth, so too is an earnest effort to weed out the tendency to dominate.
During the pandemic, cases of depression increased dramatically. To counter this, the principle of fertilization is needed: The mind requires fertilization for strength to combat depression. Inspiring reading, friends and praying for wisdom are that fertilization for coping successfully.
In the farm community I served, we once experienced a heavy rain that drowned the fields and hindered farmers from planting. Lost time meant lost crops. Good timing is ever so important. When, for example, a friendship falls on rocky ground and a moment comes to say, “I am sorry,” the principle of timing encourages us to jump on it.
This meditation on wise farming principles reflects why Christ employed them to enhance our life.
Father Eugene Hemrick writes the Catholic News Service column “The Human Side.”