Spring is also the time when farmers start their sowing and planting to grow their crops to be harvested in Autumn. In preparation for the planting, the land first has to be cleared of rocks, weeds and even the crops from the previous harvest. Then the land has to be ploughed to loosen the soil hardened over the winter as well as to aerate it.
When we look at our spiritual life, this clearing and ploughing is what we do during the season of Lent, when we observe the spiritual exercises of Fasting, Prayer and Almsgiving. These help us to rid our lives of the harmful attachments in our lives as well as to open our lives to a closer relationship with God.
After the land is cleared, the farmer has to decide what crops and fruits he would like to harvest. This of course would determine what seeds he would plant in the field. But as nature has planned it, the plants that grow the quickest after the land is cleared are usually the weeds. These sprout and cover the land rapidly, blocking out sunlight and depriving the planted seeds of nutrients from the ground. Any good farmer would know that ploughing and planting is only half the job. He would have to remove the weeds, water and fertilize the plants that he has planted.
Similarly for us, in our spiritual life, our Lenten exercises are only half the job done. We too have to “plant” certain practices that will bear the fruits that we want to see in our spiritual life. Easter is that season where we start to live out that new life. Not only just planting, but we too have to be aware of the “weeds”, that were cleared during Lent, which have a quick tendency of returning into the “fields” of our lives if we are not careful.
So let this Easter be a time of planting and growing in our spiritual lives, that we may enjoy the fruits and graces that God wants to shower on us
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Stay tuned for the next post by Br Cornelius Ching on 09th May 2010.
No comments:
Post a Comment