Listening, really listening, is the key to understanding the heart of another and listening to God is the key to understanding love. While our human nature could never understand the fullness of love that our infinite God holds for us, listening to him enables our hearts to open and receive all that he offers us.
In today’s Gospel Jesus reveals the four key steps required in order to more fully receive and understand God’s voice (the four little seeds) and all of these steps begin with hearing. Yet, hearing alone is not enough. How many times have we “heard” another speak only to realize that our mind has drifted away during the conversation? And sometimes we are so busy waiting to interject our own thoughts into the conversation that we never hear the other. There are many reasons that we do not fully engage in real listening.
As Saint Benedict would say, we must hear with ears of the heart. When we hear with ears of the heart we take in what is being spoken with empathy and love. We do not jump to fix a problem, we are not looking for the next opportunity to interject our thought, and we are not in our own little dream world. Instead, we make ourselves fully available to the other.
Listen carefully, my child, to the master’s instruction, and attend to them with an ear of your heart… As we progress in this way of life and in faith, we shall run on the path of God’s commandments, our hearts over flowing with the inexpressible delight of love. – Rule of St. Benedict
The Hearing Seeds
God’s voice is always available to us and the parable of the sower beautifully reveals this truth. Through imagery of seeds Jesus reveals the power of hearing the voice of God with ears of the heart. Jesus talks about four little seeds, all who hear the voice of God, yet only one steps into the full blessings God offers through real hearing. Each little seed reveals to us an important step on our journey to fully listening to God. And the soil Jesus speaks of – this is God’s word – specifically God’s Ten Commandments. Let’s give these seeds nick names.
- The Uneducated Seed
- The Rootless Seed
- The Suffocated Seed
- The Fruitful Seed
The little seeds find themselves on four different times of earth. And of course, these seeds represent mankind – you and I. The Uneducated Seed finds itself on a path, maybe even a path it believe leads to God, and it hears God’s word. Yet, this little seed hasn’t spent enough time with God to understand God’s language. Then there is The Rootless Seed, the seed who finds itself on rocky ground where it is unable to grow roots. Jesus’ third seed, The Suffocated Seed, grows among the thorns and these thorns eventually choke and suffocate it. Lastly, we have The Fruitful Seed – the one we all want to be! This seed is so blessed that it yields fruit up to thirty fold.
How can we listen to God so that we can be fruitful like The Fruitful Seed? Well, we must start with hearing God’s word with ears of the heart. This means that we listen to God’s word, the Ten Commandments, in such a way that we follow them with love in our hearts. God, our loving Father, gave us a divine rule book to follow that promises eternal joy, peace, and happiness. When we follow his commandments our loving, merciful God will flow mercy down to us, down through a thousand generations. Sounds great to me! I love my children and grandchildren! I for one am going to do my best to claim this inheritance for them.
The Uneducated Seed
This little seed, the one that didn’t take the time to listen and understand God’s word, found itself vulnerable to the Evil One. While it had heard God’s word, it didn’t listen enough to grasp a good understanding. This half listening left an open door for the Evil One to come in and steal what God had sown in its heart. Notice Jesus said that the Evil One comes in and “steals” what was sown. Given that we are all created in God’s image, what was sown in this little seed was sown by God and the Evil One has no claim over it. This is why the Evil One must steal – he owns nothing of his own. In heaven’s court the little seed has a right to reclaim what is rightfully his.
The Rootless Seed
Joy was experienced in the heart of this little seed because it understood the joy that comes from listening to God. God bestowed blessings on this little seed, yet, times got hard. Just like life, obstacles interfered with the seed’s ability to grow roots. We too will be presented with rocky ground, and this rocky ground will limit our joy. We will experience tribulation and persecution, after all, this is planet earth. There will be hard times. However, remember that Jesus came so that we would have joy and so that his joy would be complete! Only our Triune God can remove the boulders and rocks in our lives so that the rich soil underneath may be revealed. However, before this can happen we must spend time listening to God and the instructions he gave us in his word. As we do this we will grow divine roots that will last.
The Suffocated Seed
Have you ever felt overwhelmed by life? Or have you ever experienced anxiety or depression? If yes, then did you find yourself believing life needed to be different before you could be happy and experience peace of heart during those moments? Have you ever believe you needed to be smarter, prettier, more successful, thinner, or somehow different than you are to be worthy of love? If you answered yes to any of these then you can understand what it feels like to be the little suffocated seed.
This little seed lives in the world, yet it can’t take in the abundance God offers it. It cannot breathe in real life, the life of God, to the fullest. This little seed may even have a rather decent understanding of God’s word, yet, it allows anxiety and worldly riches to draw it away from God. This little seed needs quiet and stillness so it can hear from the ears of its heart. If you are this little seed then I invite you to visit a page on my website where I list several of my favorite meditations, I call them Fasting of the Mind. Here is the link: Fasting of the Mind.
The Fruitful Seed
Ahhhh, the fruit bearing seed. The little seed that we all seek to become. This little seed thrives in the rich soil of God’s word – the Ten Commandments. It thrives because time has been spent cultivating this soil, and this cultivating has been done in love. Such rich soil did not manifest overnight, rather, much time has been spent with the word of God, listening with ears of the heart to his commandments. Admittedly, sometimes it’s hard to follow all of God’s word with a heart full of love. We are human after all, and being so, we carry inclinations that can lead us into sin and away from God’s word.
Looking at my life I can see where I have been The Uneducated Seed, The Rootless Seed, and The Suffocated Seed. Yes, life has been a challenge at times and the Evil One did indeed steal what was rightfully mine. Maybe you can relate. Admittedly, I didn’t grow up in a family that practiced the faith, and given this I didn’t know God’s word – suffering certainly followed as a result. Worldly anxieties and financial stress once stole a piece of my heart.
However, God was faithful and he never gave up on me. Fortunately, I somehow heard him through all the nonsense! And now I am doing my best to become The Fruitful Seed – something I can only do with the help of our Triune God. You have probably experienced some “nonsense” in your life too, nonsense that lead you away from rich soil. Not to worry! Listening to God with ears of the heart as is the surest way to find ourselves in the rich soil our souls desire.
May you and your family be blessed my friends as you more fully listen to God with the ear of your hearts. – Carolyn
Triune God – help us to sleep in your arms every night of our lives.
Sacred Heart of Jesus – have mercy on us.
Father God – consume us.
Holy Spirit – enter in to us.
Mother Mary – pray for us.
Saint Benedict – pray for us.
