STEP ONE: BREATHE

Take a deep, cleansing breath. Allow the air to fill your lungs and expand your body. Exhale and empty yourself into the room. Repeat three times - once for the one who Created you, once for the Incarnate One who walks beside you, and once for the Spirit whose life fills your being.

STEP TWO: DWELL IN WORD

“When [Jesus] was alone, those who were around him along with the twelve asked him about the parables. And he said to them, ‘To you has been given the secret of the Kingdom of God, but for those outside, everything comes in parables; in order that they may indeed look, but not perceive, and may indeed listen, but not understand; so that they may not turn again and be forgiven.’”
”

— Mark 4: 10–12

On Parables and Backyards…

Common. Memorable. Simple in structure. Short in length. In each of the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke), parables offer the representative content of Jesus’s teaching ministry. Jesus teaches in parables. It is his style and modus operandi to use “down-home” examples to provide profound insight into the mysterious Kingdom of God.

The parables of Jesus invite movement in the direction of transformation—from death to life, confusion to clarity, despair to hope, and ignorance to wisdom. These short, insightful lessons about God’s Kingdom create a space in which ordinary life can change. They invite believers and non-believers alike to consider anew, weigh alternatives, and respond. Parables welcome dreamers and doubters alike to participate in what God is doing. Purposely open-ended, they excite the imagination.

What is a little disconcerting, though, is that Jesus’s teaching in parables has the stated effect of keeping some hearers in the dark. Some look but do not perceive. Some listen but do not understand. The result? They remain in their ignorance and defiance of the Kingdom of God. They stay spiritually disconnected.

With Jesus’s parables, there is a paradox. On the one hand these “teaching gems” open the heart, mind, and soul to the ever-present, abundant Kingdom of God. The parables make it possible to catch a glimpse of the hidden mysteries of God’s essence. In so doing, they open a door, crack open the window on understanding, and invite us into a place that we could never imagine existed.

On the other hand, parables divide and shut out. The doors are slammed shut and bolted tight. A division of knowledge, connection, and relationships occur that is severe. Parables separate. The two poles of the paradox couldn’t be further apart.

As a teacher and preacher of God’s grace, I find that this separation bothers me. But then I think about my faith journey with its ups and downs, and a little clarity enters the picture. What if the separation of “getting” or “not getting” the parables is merely a description of the spiritual life? What if we are both the ones to whom God gives the secrets of the Kingdom and the ones who are outside? What if the parables are not about dividing people into groups but rather speak to the struggle within each of us between trust and doubt?

Parables expose the conflict within as well as outside of us.

It is my wish that the few minutes a day that it takes you to pause, breathe, read, and reflect will be a positive step in your spiritual care. I pray that God might bless this effort in such a way as to make our spiritual “backyards” bloom with good things, insights, inspirations, and renewal. To God be the growth and glory of our living!

In Christ’s Light,

Walt

STEP THREE: PRAY

Gracious God,

open my heart and eyes to see your presence in the ordinary places of life. Allow me the wisdom to learn from your love so that I can direct my ways accordingly. Guide me in the way of Jesus’s kindness, compassion, and care.

Through Jesus Christ, amen.