A seed is planted in darkness, hidden in silence. This is where all things begin. A wise teacher to the student who is ready. You can’t clap and yell at the seed to grow, any more than you can coax the moon to rise. It’s a timing that’s out of our hands, no matter how much we wring them. The seed is doing its’ work, whispering quietly from the earth, “we’ve been doing this long before you were born.”
Mary accepts the seed of the Spirit. An embarrassed Joseph, not knowing where it came from, plans his quiet exit.* The angel came to him in a dream, saying, “Wait with her…please don’t leave.” And he did just that. The father of God, holding this secret close to his heart, sheltered the mother of God, leaning in close so that this seed of great change would be safe. How they must have clung to each other, protecting the Gift.
In this season of Advent, in the time of disappearing light, we start over again in darkness, hidden in silence. Like Joseph, we are asked to wait. How hard it is to wait on anything these days. In this naked not yet, what am I supposed to do? Draw close to each other and to your own hearth fire, and walk out into the darkness, which is the best place in which to see your light. In so doing, you honor the seed space within you.
Don’t be afraid… the seeds know just what they’re doing, even when you don’t. Their hands are clasped in their own form of prayer, lying peaceful and silent in your rich dark earth. There is so much growing in you. Mother Mary whispers quietly, “let it take root in your hungry soil.”
*Matthew 1:18-25, The Message (MSG)
–Jim Marsh, Jr., Bread of Life Church
