Will we ever see the light? Trouble upon trouble, problem after problem, suffering after suffering. When the earth isn't swallowing lives whole, death steals a father from his children, a son from his mother, a friend from a friend. Or it's unstable work, or no work at all. Family life turns hellish. Relationships fray until there's no peace left. The economy collapses. Politics rots. Our children's future looks bleak, hopeless. And on and on.
We could all lengthen this list—this dark portrait we paint each day of our own lives and everyone else's.
But a Christian is not naive. We don't dream of heaven so we can ignore the earth. Jesus is not the type to ignore what goes wrong, the suffering, the worry, the problems.
Enough of this bloodless Christ, hovering above our concerns. Remember how keenly aware he was of our struggles when he spoke of the seed that falls and dies: "Some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky ground and withered away. Some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it."
So it is in our lives, in our world. So much lost. So much ruined. Every day we are pecked at, dried out, suffocated.
Yet in that same moment, Jesus points us to the seed that lives and bears fruit: "Other seeds fell on good soil, grew, and produced a crop." We too, in our lives, taste joy, see hopeful things come to pass, know true friendship, receive real help. Jesus is neither naive nor despairing. He sees it all—the good grain and the weeds both. But he keeps looking forward.
Jesus keeps his feet on the ground. That's what lets him walk, to move ahead without stopping, lost in dreams or despair.
Let us stay on the ground too. We are neither naive nor despairing. We move forward, grain and weeds together. The harvest will come. No doubt of that.
— Michel Charpentier, 1976
