Week of July 13 (Pentecost 5)
Scripture: Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23 – The Seed
and the Sower
That same day Jesus went out of the house and
sat beside the sea. Such great crowds gathered
around him that he got into a boat and sat
there, while the whole crowd stood on the
beach.
And he told them many things in parables,
saying: "Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds
came and ate them up. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they
sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since
they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and
choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty,
some thirty. Let anyone with ears listen!"
"Hear then the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not
understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart; this is what was sown on
the path. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately
receives it with joy; yet such a person has no root, but endures only for a while, and when trouble or
persecution arises on account of the word, that person immediately falls away. As for what was sown
among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the lure of wealth
choke the word, and it yields nothing. But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears
the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another
sixty, and in another thirty."
PWRDF Story – Eco-Ecology and Health in Sri Lanka (adapted from a PWRDF website story from May
2011)
“Diversity is part of a sacred trust between people and plants.”
Editor’s Note: Ensuring guaranteed and diverse seed supplies and crop production has been an
important part of the work of a number of PWRDF partners involved in sustainable agriculture. Among
those partners is MONLAR, the Movement for National Land and Agricultural Reform in Sri Lanka. Here
is the story of one family who, with support from MONLAR has been able improve both its diet and its
income through bio-diverse agricultural practices.
Subhramanyam and his wife Marudai farm a 500 square metre home garden in Maeskiliya, Sri Lanka.
They used to grow vegetables and fruits in the garden using chemical fertilizer and pesticides and were
not careful about maintaining variety in their crop selection. They didn’t think about the nutritional
needs of the family as their crops were sold rather than being eaten by the family. Growing crops this
way cost the family 3000-3500 Rupees each four-month growing season, with crop sales totaling only
5000-5500 Rupees.
After receiving training from MONLAR in 2008, Subhramanyam and Marudai now plant 10 to 12
different varieties of vegetables each season and grow a variety of fruits including guava, papaya,
banana and jack fruit. They use compost instead of chemical fertilizer. MONLAR taught them to
prepare fermented juice from fallen leaves and cow dung and use the concoction as a natural pesticide.
The growing costs each season have been reduced to between 500 to 1000 Rupees, which has
therefore significantly increased the family’s income.
After working with MONLAR for a year Subhramanyam and Marudai now favour indigenous crops that
grow well, conserve biodiversity and need less support. Each season, they preserve some of their own
seeds from the indigenous varieties they plant.
Subhramanyam and Marudai’s family is healthier since they began eating the organic produce of their
home garden. Each day the family eats at least four different vegetables. Since they stopped using
chemical fertilizer, they have also been able to gather more types of leafy vegetables that are growing
naturally in their garden and are very nutritious.
For Reflection: While Sri Lanka enjoys three four-month growing cycles each year, here in Canada, midJuly marks the height of our single growing season. Seeds have been planted, crops have grown and it is
a time of abundance and variety as seen in farmers’ fields and at farmers’ markets across the country.
If you are a “farmer” (in whatever form, large or small, that takes), what grows in your garden? How
does the act of farming – planting seeds, watering, weeding, tending your crop, harvesting, preparing
the harvest for eating – connect you to God’s creation? How does it make you a healthier person? If
you aren’t a farmer, do you know one? How would they answer those questions if you asked them? If
you don’t know a farmer, plan to visit a farmers’ market and ask one!
Concluding Prayer
Growing weather; enough rain;
the cow’s udder tight with milk;
the peach tree bent with its yield;
honey golden in the white comb;
the pastures deep in clover and grass,
enough, and more than enough;
the ground, new worked, moist
and yielding underfoot, the feet
comfortable in it as roots;
the early garden: potatoes, onions,
peas, lettuce, spinach, cabbage, carrots,
radishes, marking their straight rows
with green, before the trees are leafed;
raspberries ripe and heavy amid their foliage,
currants shining red in clusters amid their foliage,
strawberries red ripe with the white
flowers still on the vines – picked
with the dew on them, before breakfast;
grape clusters heavy under broad leaves,
powdery bloom on fruit black with sweetness
an ancient delight, delighting…
the work of feeding and clothing and housing,
done with more than enough knowledge
and with more than enough love,
by those who do not have to be told…
What I know of spirit is astir
in the world. The god I have always expected
to appear at the woods’ edge, beckoning,
I have always expected to be
a great relisher of this world, its good
grown immortal in his mind.
Excerpts from The Satisfactions of the Mad Farmer, by Wendell Berry, New Collected Poems,
Counterpoint, Berkeley, 2012.