Last week, I yelled at a chicken.
Imagine the scene: Me in my “I’ve given up on fashion” covid-attire running around the yard yelling at a chicken to “Just seriously stop for one freaking second so I can pick you up.”
It’s okay to laugh.
I mean who yells at a chicken? Maybe I was just healthily expressing my emotions in the privacy of my backyard.
“You see Nika,” I addressed the chicken directly, “There is a storm brewing and if I don’t get you back over this fence you’ll be caught in it…. Do you want to die?” She just looked at me and said: “Bock?”
“Don’t do this to me! I don’t want to get wet either. The storm is coming and I just need you to cooperate. Look at your friends they all did what they were supposed to! Why do you make things so hard?” And again all I got was a quick dart out of my grasp and a “Bock?”
“You destroyed my yard. You ate all the grass seeds and the vegetable seeds and you spread poop where it does absolutely no good for the soil – on my porch! I mean you do give me eggs and the boys love you…. and you are kinda pretty… but still!”
This conversation went on longer than I’m proud of. I eventually got her settled and went inside. The thunder subsided and, of course, after all that not a drop of rain actually fell.
Looking out the window, I realized I had been a little dramatic. Maybe we are all having these moments more frequently these days? And those poor chickens or humans caught in our sudden storm!
Today’s Gospel of the sower and the seed invites us to take note of how we are responding to God’s word. To me, this is a question of not only how we are responding to what God is telling us in prayer but also how we are responding to what God is telling us through one another. Are we letting the challenges of the day lead us to taking it out at one another? Are we running in circles chasing something that is just begging us to slow down, take our time, and have more patience than we think is possible?
Are we being rich soil or rocky ground for all that is begging to spring to life?
Lord help us open our ears and hearts to the messages you are sending us through one another so that we can replant the seeds and a new world may flourish.
