The Useless Tree

I have been making my way through Spiritual Formation by Henri Nouwen (with Michael J. Christensen and Rebecca J. Laird. The second chapter is about prayer, and it opens with the following story: 

A carpenter and his apprentice were walking together through a large forest. And when they came across a tall, huge, gnarled, old, beautiful oak tree, the carpenter asked his apprentice: “Do you know why this tree is so tall, so huge, so gnarled, so old and beautiful?”

The apprentice looked at his master and said: “No . . . why?” 

“Well,” the carpenter said, “because it is useless. If it had been useful it would have been cut long ago and made into tables and chairs, but because it is useless it could grow so tall and so beautiful that you can sit in its shade and relax.”

Later on in the chapter Nouwen writes:

The world says, "If you are not making good use of your time, you are useless." Jesus says: "Come spend some useless time with me." If we think about prayer in terms of its usefulness to us—what prayer will do for us, what spiritual benefits we will gain, what insights we will gain, what divine presence we may feel—God cannot easily speak to us. But if we can detach ourselves from the idea of the usefulness of prayer and the results of prayer, we become free to "waste" a precious hour with God in prayer. Gradually, we may find, our "useless" time will transform us, and everything around us will be different.

Prayer is being unbusy with God instead of being busy with other things. Prayer is primarily to do nothing useful or productive in the presence of God. 

From Spiritual Formation: Following the Movements of the Spirit (pages 17, 18). 

Frog and Toad and the Kingdom of God

Doing Our Part and Letting God Do God’s Part

RCL • Year B • Proper 6 • Track 2
Ezekiel 17:22-24 • Psalm 92:1-4, 11-14
2 Corinthians 5:6-10, (11-13), 14-17
Mark 4:(21-25)26-34

The Kingdom of God is Like…

Today’s gospel lesson comes from the fourth chapter of Mark. Up to this point in the narrative, Jesus has been announcing the arrival of God’s kingdom, “Repent,” he would say, “for the kingdom of God has come near.” In other words, “Take notice, God’s kingdom is taking over this broken world; and God demands your allegiance. This is good news.” And Jesus demonstrated the presence of God’s kingdom with powerful words and powerful deeds. He preached with an authority that astounded the crowds; he expelled demons with just a word; and he healed the sick with just a touch. People were amazed. But not everyone saw these things as evidence of God’s kingdom at work. As we heard last week, Jesus’ own family thought he was mental unstable and the scribes claimed he was possessed by Satan.

So Jesus began to be more careful; he began to operate more covertly. For example, instead of speaking about God’s kingdom in plain language, he began to cloak the gospel in little stories that we call parables. Jesus hid the kingdom from plain view so that it might have a better chance to get behind people’s natural defenses. In other words, Jesus used parables as a way to smuggled the gospel behind enemy lines. He hid the kingdom, so that the kingdom might be revealed. As he himself said, “There is nothing hidden, except to be disclosed; nor is anything secret, except to come to light” (4:22). He hid the kingdom to reveal the kingdom. This may sound absurd, but this is exactly what every farmer and gardener does. This is what we do. We hide seeds in the earth precisely so that they will come to light. If we didn’t hide seeds in this way, we would never experience harvest.

In today’s gospel, Jesus tells two parables about seeds and sowers to reveal something about the kingdom of God. Note that in both parables, someone plants a seed, and then what happens with the seed is completely out of their control. For example, in the first parable, a farmer plants a seed, and then he goes about his normal life. And despite his lack of attention and effort, the seed grows. 

Frog and Toad, “The Garden”

This reminds me of a story that I read as a kid and that I like to read to my kids now. It is a story about Frog and Toad. Have you ever heard these stories. If you haven’t, Frog and Toad are good friends, very good friends. And if you read their stories, you soon discover that Frog is the sensible one, and Toad, not so much.