Gregory, a budding research scientist in the fifth grade, was conducting an experiment on a grasshopper for his science project. He put the grasshopper on a table, leaned down until his face was inches from the insect, and screamed, “Jump!” The grasshopper leapt into the air.
Gregory then carefully removed one of the insect’s legs. He then leaned down and again screamed, “Jump!” The grasshopper responded as before.
Gregory repeated the process four more times, each time removing one of the grasshopper’s legs. Each time, the grasshopper leapt into the air, although each leap was less impressive than the one before.
Finally, Gregory removed the grasshopper’s last leg, leaned down and again screamed, “Jump!” The grasshopper did not move. Satisfied, the would-be scientist opened his journal and entered the results of his experiment. He wrote, “When all legs have been removed, the grasshopper became deaf.”
Gregory’s analysis is not so different from our own inability to understand why our own world, our families, even our own lives are not all that we would like them to be. We too can be deaf to the message that Jesus is trying to get across, one that if we were to hear it, could make a real difference in the world we live in.
Consider this parable, for example. We tend to think of the seeds as God’s word and the soils as the different attitudes people have toward receiving God’s word. Jesus astutely observes that our responses to his message can range from outright rejection to lukewarm interest to great enthusiasm. We can rightly assume that he is speaking of selfishness, despair, or materialism as those rocks, thorns, or weeds that prevent God’s word from taking root in our hearts.
Cautioning the disciples that people hear but do not always understand, Jesus then quotes from Isaiah to illustrate that unless you are ready to listen, you won’t get the message. Modern psychology has long observed that we only hear what we are ready to take in. If our minds are not open to what is being said, we simply won’t hear the message even if we have perfect hearing.
Jesus is quite observant of human nature. He notes that God’s word will become more present to those who make the time and space for God in their lives through prayer, much like the person who works out frequently will become more physically fit. On the other hand, those who do not cultivate any awareness of God in their daily lives are apt to lose what little perception of God’s love they already have.
Like Gregory, we sometimes fail to grasp the obvious. We fail to understand that love and justice are values that we must plant and nourish if our world is to become a better place and that these values must be sustained and cared for much like any plant seedling. Too many of us spend hours and hours on the job, then wonder why our families have become strangers to us. We carry our biases and prejudices like badges of honor yet wonder why violence strangles our world. We justify ignoring the cries of the poor around us, but don’t understand why nothing is being done for them. In short, we are deaf to hearing the challenge of this parable: let the word of God take root in our hearts so that we in turn become the sowers of the harvest of justice, peace and reconciliation that Christ calls us to become.
Whether we know it or not, we are all sowers of seed. By our attitudes, our beliefs, and our actions we can sow seeds of encouragement, joy, love and reconciliation. Every good word we offer, every kindness we extend, and every good thing we give is seed sown with the potential to make our world a better place.
This is why Jesus calls on us to proclaim the good news in every situation and relationship we find ourselves in. The mission isn’t all that overwhelming. We sow the seeds of God’s love and justice every time we do something so simple as saying, “Thank you,” to someone who has helped us, like the cashier in the check out line. We sow the seeds of God’s love every time we stop what we are doing to extend a helping hand to someone in need. We sow the seeds of God’s love anytime we welcome the stranger in our midst, like the new comer to our liturgy. We sow the seeds of God’s love each time we send a card to a friend who is ill.
We sow the seeds of God’s love whenever we invite the kid next door to play with us. We sow the seeds of God’s love anytime we stop to let the pedestrian cross the street safely. We sow the seeds of God’s love each time we think to smile. Conversely, in our selfishness, we could sow seeds of discontent, anger, discouragement, violence, abuse, and injustice. The bottom line is that Jesus is urging us to hear his message and realize that for better or worse what we say and do does make a difference in this world.
The lesson of this parable for us is clear: concentrate on hearing Jesus’ word and making it known to others. What you do or say may seem insignificant at the moment yet God will bring about the harvest in ways that we cannot imagine.