Dead seeds

 

Ok, so I really had to read through today’s gospel reading from John 12 a couple times for it to set in.  After all, who likes talking about death and dying?  I’ve recently come to grips with the fact that death is as much a part of the cycle of life as being born.  Death typically tends to be somber or sad, because there are loved ones left behind.   In today’s gospel, Jesus has an interesting conversation with Andrew and Philip.  In the conversation, Jesus says “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”  I don’t know about you, but I had to do a holy eye roll and shoulder shrug on this one.  I thought to myself “Jesus, what are you talking about?”

Then it hit me.  As Christians we memorialize the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, often times mentioning these events in our Eucharistic prayers.  In today’s Forward Day by Day, I was given further insight.  Jesus was not talking about physical death, but simply how we live our lives with each other.  See, it’s like this.  When we accept Jesus into our hearts and conscientiously decide to follow him.  There is a death to ourselves, our desires and wills that take place.   

In this death, we are imbued with fruits of the Holy Spirit: love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  Some of us exemplify these gifts more so than others.  When we die unto ourselves and yield to God, our creator, Christ our redeemer and the Holy Spirit our guide.  The possibilities are boundless.   We are not perfect, but when we die to ourselves and are resurrected into the glory of Christ, the fruits of the Holy Spirit that spring forth are not just for us to hoard over alone but meant to be shared with the whole world, even the least of these that are frequently left out of many circles.  Go share your dead seeds and fruit!

Peace,

Karsten