Editor’s note: Columns in the Faith section reflect opinions and perspectives of the writer and are not necessarily those of The Republic.
“If you can look into the seeds of time and tell me which grains will grow and which will not — then speak unto me.” — Shakespeare, from “Macbeth”
I grew up working on (and with) the land. My father owned and ran an excavation business. I was born in “farm country” in upstate New York. One thing I learned from working with the soil is this: There are some things you can’t force.
For example, sometimes you have to work around a huge patch of underground rock. And you can never force a plant to grow. There are things you cannot force. You have to work around it, work with it, or just let it be.
I once read something by a Lutheran bishop who attended a lecture by a psychiatrist. The psychiatrist offered these words of wisdom: “You don’t make the beans grow by pulling on them.” In other words, personal and spiritual growth can never be forced. Sometimes behavior can be coerced; but personal growth and attitudes cannot be forced.
President Lyndon Johnson was wrong, when he looked at the war in Vietnam and said: “If You grab them by (their sensitive body parts) their hearts and minds will follow.” Hearts and minds never change due to force. Real life is more like a plant.
Sometimes, all you can do is plant the seed, water it, fertilize it, and then watch what happens. I think the wisdom of Shakespeare comes into play here:
“If you can look into the seeds of time and tell me which grains will grow and which will not — then speak unto me.”
I think the Bard was trying to tell us that it is wise to realize: The growth or development of things and people is often beyond our powers of prediction and beyond our ability to control.
No wonder “The Serenity Prayer” has been so wisely prayed by people who are in the business of personal change:
“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.”
I consider this to be great wisdom for ministering to and with people. It is golden wisdom when working with groups like congregations. Leaders are often tempted to force that which can only develop naturally or through the power of The Holy Spirit.
I talk with church participants who express frustration that people seldom seem to change. They express anger when people seem to avoid vision and calls to more productive purpose.
I had a friend who was a research professor at a university in Colorado. His wife was a teacher of students hoping to embark on careers in speech pathology. My friend said to me and his wife. “As a research person, I do not envy the work of teachers and pastors. Why? Because teachers and pastors are working in areas that call for personal change. And people very seldom (if ever) change.”
It was sobering to think about my friend’s comment. But I had to admit he was speaking one of the great truths of life. People seldom ever change. All teachers, pastors, and interested laypersons can do is continue to plant the seeds.
As Christians we can ask God to help us change, to help us grow. And perhaps that is where real change begins. As you continue through the season of Lent, a season of repentance, you can say to yourself. “Productive change begins with me. God help me to grow!”
In the meantime, as we pray for personal change. Let us keep on planting good seeds wherever we can and remember the wisdom of Shakespeare. None of us can look into the seeds and really tell which will bear fruit and which will not.
We can only depend on one thing. We can trust that God loves all of his plants, even those seeds that never grow. I recently learned there is more to The Serenity Prayer than we know from it’s popular expression. The above prayer continues with these words:
“Living one day at a time; enjoying one moment at a time; accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it. Trusting that He will make things right, If I surrender to His will…”
Maybe the fuller version of the Serenity Prayer can be a way for us to experience the kinds of death that lead to the new life of Easter, and to true personal and public change.
Pastor Larry Isbell is pastor of First Lutheran Church in Columbus. He can reached at [email protected]. The opinions expressed here are his own.
