Like seed

It has been raining all weekend here in Philadelphia. I don’t mind rain, sometimes I even like it, but my Dad was especially pleased for two days. He has been in a fierce battle with an out-of-control weed in his front lawn. In late summer, Dad had had enough and he wreaked havoc on his yard by digging up a massive section of grass – grass he claims was polluted by this weed. He has reseeded, and the rain was welcome.

I sat in church yesterday morning and at the very end we sang a song I had never heard of – which is saying something, believe me. I cannot tell you the title of it, even though I googled its phrases without success. I will admit that my attention was cyclical, meaning at times I was paying attention and in the next moment I wasn’t. I do know, however, that the pastor was talking about being a servant of all, an idea that I can get my whole self behind, but it was one phrase of the hymn that grabbed my attention fully.

“Let me be Christ’s hands indeed, spreading joy like scattered seed.”

I thought about my Dad’s balding lawn and how he had thrown the new grass seed with abandon – generously – covering every bare spot in hopes of seeing new life spring up. I remembered the year I was hell bent on a wildflower garden, and I threw the seeds all over, not caring if colorful chaos ensued. Frankly, that was the whole point.

Even though serving one another includes crawling into the lonely and starving places, I was reminded today that it is also like throwing seed with generous abandon. To aid humankind is to throw joy into the wind, not necessarily always aiming, just living with uninhibited hope.