I try to read the parable of the mustard seed and the yeast (see Mt 13:31-35) in the light of my reflection on the Word of God yesterday, I mean, in the light of the growth of my relationship with God.
"The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a person took and sowed in a field. It is the smallest of all the seeds, yet when full-grown it is the largest of plants. It becomes a large bush, and the 'birds of the sky come and dwell in its branches.' (…) "The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed with three measures of wheat flour until the whole batch was leavened."
In baptism, the seed of faith was planted in my heart. But it didn’t remain a seed, it has grown to the point that my relationship with God became central to my life and a determining factor on how I would like to live the rest of my life. It is now a tree which “covers” all the areas of my life – my dreams, my actions, my hopes, my relationships. It is the one that gives direction, taste and meaning to my life. I guess that in the end, this is what we mean by being “religious” – it’s not so much belonging to this or that institution but seeing to it that one’s life is “linked intimately” to the Creator, and in so doing, also undertands the connections among all creatures and the whole of creation.
I’d like to deepen this thought with a poem from Kahlil Gibran:
And an old priest said, 'Speak to us of Religion.'
"The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a person took and sowed in a field. It is the smallest of all the seeds, yet when full-grown it is the largest of plants. It becomes a large bush, and the 'birds of the sky come and dwell in its branches.' (…) "The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed with three measures of wheat flour until the whole batch was leavened."
In baptism, the seed of faith was planted in my heart. But it didn’t remain a seed, it has grown to the point that my relationship with God became central to my life and a determining factor on how I would like to live the rest of my life. It is now a tree which “covers” all the areas of my life – my dreams, my actions, my hopes, my relationships. It is the one that gives direction, taste and meaning to my life. I guess that in the end, this is what we mean by being “religious” – it’s not so much belonging to this or that institution but seeing to it that one’s life is “linked intimately” to the Creator, and in so doing, also undertands the connections among all creatures and the whole of creation.
I’d like to deepen this thought with a poem from Kahlil Gibran:
And an old priest said, 'Speak to us of Religion.'
And he said: Have I spoken this day of aught else?
Is not religion all deeds and all reflection,
And that which is neither deed nor reflection,
but a wonder and a surprise ever springing in the soul,
even while the hands hew the stone or tend the loom?
Who can separate his faith from his actions,
or his belief from his occupations?
Who can spread his hours before him, saying,
'This for God and this for myself;
This for my soul, and this other for my body?'
All your hours are wings that beat through space from self to self.
He who wears his morality but as his best garment were better naked.
The wind and the sun will tear no holes in his skin.
And he who defines his conduct by ethics imprisons his song-bird in a cage.
The freest song comes not through bars and wires.
And he to whom worshipping is a window, to open but also to shut,
has not yet visited the house of his soul whose windows are from dawn to dawn.
Your daily life is your temple and your religion.
Whenever you enter into it take with you your all.
Take the plough and the forge and the mallet and the lute,
The things you have fashioned in necessity or for delight.
For in revery you cannot rise above your achievements nor fall lower than your failures.
And take with you all men:
For in adoration you cannot fly higher than their hopes
nor humble yourself lower than their despair.
And if you would know God be not therefore a solver of riddles.
Rather look about you and you shall see Him playing with your children.
And look into space; you shall see Him walking in the cloud,
outstretching His arms in the lightning and descending in rain.
You shall see Him smiling in flowers, then rising and waving His hands in trees.
