Ears and Shit

“Let him who has ears hear.” It is obvious to me from the occurrences over the last two years that God doesn’t give us our “ears” all at once. Things that are in the Bible simply do not make sense or sink into our consciousness all at once.

The United Church of Christ (UCC) has a motto, “God still speaking.” But I swear that not only is He still speaking, but He is still writing the Bible. Verses and stories that are there today were not there a year ago. Why do I seem to be the only one who notices this?

A year or so ago I was given my calling. There were things that God and I had to discuss before I “accepted” the calling (as though there is really a choice). I searched the Bible looking for answers to some of the things we discussed, looking for verification that it wasn’t just my imagination that was speaking. I could not find those answers.

Suddenly not only are those verses in the Bible, but He has been beating me over the head with them, through the mouth of Pastor John. Why is He convincing John that those verses have been there all along when I know they weren’t there a year ago?

Today, I was an usher so I didn’t get to hear all the sermon (John is soft spoken and our PA system is marginal). One part I heard was a parable that Jesus used. It is Luke 13: 6-9, the Parable of the Fig Tree. Now I am fairly familiar with the New Testament and I can honestly say I have never seen that parable in there before. Granted it is not a long one, nor seemingly overwhelming.

Today God was somewhat kind to me in that He didn’t turn my ears on until about four hours later. Had he done so during the service, I probably would have sunk to the pew and cried my eyes out. That parable is my story.

Six months ago I was dead – a fig tree with no fruit. My life was pointless. I was ready to “cut it down.” But obviously, the “gardener” – the Holy Spirit I assume – suggested giving me more time to mature and bear fruit. The changes that have happened since then are, to me at least, staggering. In the words of the story, the manure the Gardener has been using is downright powerful stuff!

While some of the recent lessons have been less than pleasant, I guess another lesson I got from today’s scripture is that I am even thankful for shit.