***
I love hiking.
Being surrounded by nature teaches me important insights about God.
There’s an invisible force, it seems, at work in nature, because wherever life is possible, it grows.
***
For example, moss grows on solid rock; even flowers nestle inside the rock’s tiny cracks.
When trees fall and begin to decay, other plants sprout up around it.
Even in the most uninhabitable places on earth like the desert, cacti stand tall.
Nature never gives up. Wherever life is possible, it grows.
***
The same is true with God.
The Holy Spirit is like an invisible force, determined to make himself known in this world, whenever and wherever possible.
In the Gospel, for example, Jesus tells his disciples that they will be led before kings, scourged, beaten, imprisoned, and hated.
They will even put to death.
But whenever they’re persecuted in one town, don’t stop. Flee to the next. Keep spreading seeds of faith, because some of those seeds will bear fruit.
Like that invisible force of nature, God finds a way to thrive; if there’s no life in one town, he’ll take root in the next.
***
Think of how many opportunities we have to plant seeds of faith throughout the day, even in the simplest of ways.
Speaking a kind word; listening to another; returning a phone call; offering a prayer for a person in need; giving a reason to hope.
They may seem insignificant, like tiny seeds. But that’s all God needs to take root and start growing.
How, then, might I plant a seed today?
***
