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Today in RS, we were split into small groups and assigned a variety of scriptures. My group of 3 ladies got Matthew 13: 3-11, 13, 14. It is the parable of the sower. The sower castes out seed and … I think we all know the story .. I read it and saw new things today. It suddenly hit me like a ton of bricks that none of us get to decide our circumstances.
The parable mentions the seeds on rocky ground in verse 20: The seed sown on rocky ground is the person who heard the word and immediately receive it with joy. Verse 21: But he has no root in himself and does not endure.
In the past, I’ve always read this with a LDS correlation twist and thought that a person who was “rocky soil” needed to fix their situation and do better — that we all needed to be “good earth.”
But that isn’t what the scriptures say. The parable tells us that the seed gets tossed out, it grows according to the resources of what it lands on and the rocky ground has NO ABILITY to change its circumstances. The rocky ground cannot make itself better than what it is. It cannot make it rain, it cannot till itself. It has to wait for a third party to improve the situation. It doesn’t matter how excited the rocky ground is to have seed, the resources are lacking.
In verse 22: The seed sown among thorns is the person who hears the word, but worldly cares and the seductiveness of wealth choke the word, so it produces nothing. That is a verse of judgement Apparently, we can decide whether we have thorns or not.
Reading this story with new eyes, I see compassion and empathy as important in the story — and no longer as a lecture to improve our circumstances. This parable tells us that some people flourish due to their circumstances. They were planted well. Others struggle due to their circumstances .. Only a few of those circumstances do we have any real control over.
Anyway .. My weirdo take on Matthew 13.
Correlate that with Uchtdorf’s great oaks of understanding in the sandy soil of doubt and uncertainty. I really like that twist. I do think we have the ability to import soil on an individual basis, but I also think our 2nd Article of Faith adds deep meaning and grace to the point you make. Perhaps, the nature of our soil is a direct result of Adam’s transgression, so we won’t be punished for it. Perhaps, “all we can do” is WAY less expansive than we tend to think, and being saved by grace after all we can do expands the borders of that from which we are saved in the end.
Quote:Ray wrote: “After all we can do”
I look at our group and I suspect many/most of us have advanced degrees. We are a capable, high achieving bunch. We live in a country that allows for personal progression and change. We get to a point where we take that for granted. Reminds me of two surgeons arguing over who was the “one percenter” in the room. They were having such a good time arguing and comparing financials that they forgot about the single mom with three young kids and a broken down car who was working as their scrub tech. They lost perceptive of the larger audience in the room.
The parable of the sower was given by Christ. People didn’t have a lot of career options in his time. If your father herded sheep, there was a very high probability that you would herd sheep too. There also wasn’t much geographical movement by the majority of people.
Before the development of the bicycle, the majority of men found wives within one mile of their own birthplaces. After the bicycle, that expanded to 20 miles and completely changed population genetics. Now we have trains, planes, and automobiles. We take travel, education, and the ability to make vast changes in our lives for granted. For so much of the world, they are still grateful for the bicycle.
When I get past my First World bias, I see people born into circumstances that do affect their abilities to pursue religious choices. People are given Rocky Ground. Nothing grows well there.
It is so easy for me to give a quick 20 minute RS lesson on becoming good soil. But I think the lesson would be more real if we told people that whether they had a good crop or not, God knew what kind of land they had to work with and God loves them where they are at — no matter their circumstances — even with barren and rocky ground. God knew their joy in receiving the seed .. Even when they had absolutely no way to effectively grow it.
amateurparent wrote:Before the development of the bicycle, the majority of men found wives within one mile of their own birthplaces.
Yeah, go back far enough and I think there are a few closed circuits in my family tree.
And so this post isn’t a complete wash, to go along with some of what you are saying (and I think this has been linked on this site before, pardon the repetition):
http://www.boredpanda.com/lesson-about-privilege-awareness/ ” class=”bbcode_url”> http://www.boredpanda.com/lesson-about-privilege-awareness/ Quote:Nibbler wrote : Yeah, go back far enough and I think there are a few closed circuits in my family tree.
Yeah .. Sometimes those family trees just don’t fork!
amateurparent wrote:It is so easy for me to give a quick 20 minute RS lesson on becoming good soil. But I think the lesson would be more real if we told people that whether they had a good crop or not, God knew what kind of land they had to work with and God loves them where they are at — no matter their circumstances — even with barren and rocky ground. God knew their joy in receiving the seed .. Even when they had absolutely no way to effectively grow it.
I like that interpretation AP. The amount of choice we have in determining our own destiny is somewhat of a pet topic for me. I would make comments in SS about God knowing and accepting your limitations. Unfortunately, I was told that it came across as me trying to justfiy not trying hard enough.
:problem: Oh well.Quote:Roy wrote: I like that interpretation AP. The amount of choice we have in determining our own destiny is somewhat of a pet topic for me. I would make comments in SS about God knowing and accepting your limitations. Unfortunately, I was told that it came across as me trying to justfiy not trying hard enough.
:problem: Oh well.Interesting how far we have come from the teaching of the atonement and grace. I think we focus too much on the ” After All We Can Do”
And yet people are also uncomfortable if we accomplish or do too much. Move 2 standard deviations either direction from the norm and it makes the group highly uncomfortable.
I need to get a new door sign “No Outliers Allowed”.
Quote:Interesting how far we have come from the teaching of the atonement and grace.
The real irony is that grace is being taught much more actively and directly at the top of the Church than ever before in my life, and I am hearing it discussed more at the local level than I would have imagined a decade or so ago. It actually was the High Council topic last month in my current stake.
Like so many things, the water hasn’t gotten to the end of the rows in too many places – but it has in lots of others. So much depends on the natural personality orientations of the local leaders.
We recently had our ward conference and our SP prominently quoted from Pres. Uchtdorf’s talk from last GC. I agree with Ray, grace is getting more exposure. Quote:DarkJedi wrote:We recently had our ward conference and our SP prominently quoted from Pres. Uchtdorf’s talk from last GC. I agree with Ray, grace is getting more exposure.
I am thrilled to hear it. It hasn’t arrived in this corner of the farm .. If the irrigation pipe is turned on, it is bound to arrive. We will probably wait and wait and then suddenly get so much that we are deluged with it.
I discovered this today and thought it worth sharing, it’s beautiful: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYMLMj-SibUhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYMLMj-SibU” class=”bbcode_url”> (Amazing Grace sung by Il Divo)
Dark Jedi: Thank you for sharing the music clip. Beautiful music .. And they weren’t hard on the eyes either.
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