Walking outside during a recent wet snow somehow had me reflecting on the parable of the Sower and the Seed in the context of a March snowfall in Ohio. It went something like this:
Once there was a sky full of snow clouds from which small snowflakes fell lightly. Some fell on the lake. Others fell on the sidewalk and driveways. Still others fell on the grass. Those tiny flakes, though infinitesimal in weight, formed tiny rings on the water. Those that fell on the sidewalks and driveways immediately melted. Those that fell on the grass stayed there and eventually mounted into two-inch piles of white fluff. So what were the snowflakes saying to me? My ruminations equated snowflakes with Lenten practices: prayer, fasting, good deeds. The Lenten practices forming circles on the water represent the impact of the “little things” done for God and God’s People. Nothing is too lightweight. Good reaches out in wider diameters of good. Lenten practices falling on concrete and asphalt are transformed from solid into liquid. In that, these Lenten practices represent a change in us. A sacrifice here or an hour of service there changes us: we are a little kinder, a little more generous. We may even change the state of another from destitution to subsistence, for example. Finally the Lenten deeds falling on grass represent the cumulative effect of the whole Church, the Body of Christ. Millions of good deeds unite in a pure white offering.
Well, parables don’t have exact one-to-one correspondence, so what would you make of this parable?
One Response
A snowflake is a fragile yet strong symbol of all that is God. May the energy of Lent make us ” lighweight in the Lord” and oh, such a pure white offering.
Thank you, Sister Valerie.