Hastings: The wisdom of seeds

“The kindom of heaven is like the mustard seed … It is the smallest of seeds, but when it has grown it is the biggest shrub of all.” — Matthew 13:31-32 The Inclusive Bible

The mustard seed of which Jesus spoke was not like the pickling spice but rather like a speck of ground pepper from the pod of a shrub that grows large enough for birds to perch in its branches. And the kindom of heaven is the blessed community at work within us and among us wherever there is love and caring, truth and justice.

To illustrate the kindom’s mysterious growth, I looked to the heirloom tomato plants on our deck. The number of tomatoes that each plant bears varies, but for ease of figuring, let’s say each plant produces 10 tomatoes. Each tomato contains at least 100 seeds. Thus, a single plant could produce seeds for 1,000 new plants. And if each of these 1,000 plants produces 1,000 more, that’s 1,000,000 seeds from a single plant.

Like seeds, individual acts multiply with far-reaching consequences. Seeds of unkindness, mistruth or injustice can quickly multiply into chaos, war and human misery. But seeds of kindness and caring, truth and justice multiply into a divine instrument of peace and blessing that can overcome the greed and darkness, lies and evil in the world. This is the mysterious wisdom of seeds in the kindom of heaven.

The Rev. Celia M. Hastings has a master’s degree in religious education from Western Theological Seminary in Holland. She is author of “The Wisdom Series” and “The Undertaker’s Wife.”

This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Hastings: The wisdom of seeds