It is what it is

Today's Scripture

I have to admit, that when this saying became popular (in the 90's???), I didn't like it. Mostly because it was often used as a copout when someone had royally screwed something up. I always felt like it kept us from doing a good 'post-mortem' on what led us to this point. Of course, I didn't see much use in condemning others for their mistakes, but I might have been in the minority in my company, so there's that. So any time something went south, we would hear a chorus of 'it is what it is'. It never seemed to be used in conjunction with good things that we couldn't do anything about. Maybe that's because there was no shortage of people looking to claim credit?? 

In today's Gospel, Jesus starts with this line: "This is how it is with the Kingdom of God." It is what it is. We can't make it different, but on the other hand, we probably wouldn't want to. The question is: Do we want to cooperate with it? If we do, we should probably understand how it works. Jesus gives two examples: The farmer plants stuff and that takes a good amount of work, but then he has to patiently wait for God to do His thing. The farmer CAN NOT do the growing part. He doesn't even understand how it happens. He can't make it happen no matter how hard he tries. The second is the mustard seed that has no business growing as big as it does, from such a small start. 

Now you have scientists and botanists all over the world who will say that they can grow stuff. They get the seeds, and they plant them 'just so' and very reliably 'their' plants spring up. What I would say is 'make your own seeds, then'. The process of growth can only ever be encouraged and supported. It cannot be manufactured.(just realized that some smart reader here will send me an article that tells me something about science that I don't know). I am pretty certain then, that we can create the conditions, we can introduce the seed, but the growing and multiplication of cells is out of our reach - that's God's domain.

To be perfectly clear, Jesus is not giving us a lesson on farming or botany here. He is talking about building the Kingdom of God. I cannot make the love for God grow in someone's heart. If I could, it woulda happened in dramatic fashion for lots of people a long time ago. I want it to happen, I have worked on it. Now, like the farmer, I need to be patient while God does His work. And not just patient but faithful and trusting. In a movie entitled Facing the Giants, the coach is praying desperately that his team will come together as brothers, they are in great disarray, and he's not worried about the winning, but the prevailing sense of defeat among the players. An old man walks the halls of the school praying for each student as his hand touches their locker. He stops and tells the coach: Plow your fields! The coach doesn't quite understand. He says again: Plow your fields! If you are goin' to pray for rain, plow the fields or you won't be ready when God does what He does. 

That's the way it is with the Kingdom of God. He and only He will do the growing. We plow, we plant, we prepare, and we wait - and have faith. An absolutely beautiful daughter of Christ shared the reflection at the top of this post with me after she shared with me how her daughter, despite their love and care and concern, had overdosed on drugs. This prayer helped to give her perspective on what her role was, and what God's role was. Sometimes it is hard for us to understand that the 'growing' of others is not our role, but 'it is what it is'.