The Wheat, the Weeds, the Rain

I was second to arrive this morning, after the pastor. He greeted me with his usual joviality and then inquired about my father's recovery. The sequence has become the standard format in the brief conversations I have each week with church members. And although I do not "believe" in prayer as they understand it -- human intercession to the Divine Will -- I must acknowledge the uplift in Daddy's mood each time I mention that they are still praying for him.

Pastor mentioned the recent abundance of rain in the area. "Someone's prayers are being answered," he said. "Well, my lawn is loving it," I added, feeling silly immediately after I said it though Pastor chuckled because it was just the kind of meaningless comment that passes for humor in his reality.

When P___ & B___ arrived a few minutes later, they, too, inquired about my father's recovery and commented on the rain. P____ is friends with the woman who lived in this house before us. She had mentioned last Sunday that the woman would like to stop by and see the old place. I enthusiastically assured her I would welcome a visit and encouraged her to share my telephone number with her friend. Today I told her I was still hoping her friend would get in touch with me as I could use some guidance identifying the myriad varieties of greenery in the yard.

"You'll do okay. Just make sure you're pulling weeds and not flowers," she said. "Which is precisely the problem:  I don't know the difference," I told her. "I know what you mean," she added. "Some weeds sprout such beautiful flowers."

As it turned out, the Gospel reading today was the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares (or "weeds" in the modern day translation) as recounted in the 13th chapter of Matthew. The popular reading understands the parable to say that weeds (non-believers, evil people, etc.) are the result of clandetine activity by Satan/the Devil after the initial sowing of good seed by Christ/God. In the scripture, Jesus explains the parable to inquiring disciples after the public telling and instructs that just as there is no need for the servant workers to pull the weeds because at harvest time, the reapers will pull them, bundle them and burn them, angels of the Son of Man will pull the human weeds "at the close of the age."

During the pastor's exegesis this morning, I thought about the inadequacy of the parable for those who don't have servants. And I thought about the beauty of weeds and the difficulty distinguishing them from other plants. And I thought about the contradiction between the idea that God created everyone and the idea that some of us are "created" by Satan. And I also enjoyed the synchronicity of the parable with my earlier conversation with P__.

Further thematic congruency arose during the sermon (although the central theme of it was "standing in line) when we were told that although Adam and Eve ("Daddy and Mommy") were punished for their transgression in the garden of Eden, we should not view the struggles of our lives as punishment. The suffering and struggles we endure presently are manifestations of the ongoing punishment for the original sin perpetrated by Adam and Eve.

"Because of their disobedience," Pastor explained, "forever after, all women must undergo painful childbirth and men must deal with weeds." He did not say it as a joke but I found the idea amusing.

And I wondered about childless women and women farmers.