Fr Robert Hendrickson

Dear Friends in Christ,

In the Gospel today we read, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away.” What I thought of, after reading it, is how often some good thing or work or organization or group starts off great with wonderful intentions, energy, and joy. Then something happens. Something goes awry. I’ve seen it on basketball teams I’ve been on — one change in a player and suddenly everything is off. You fall asleep and wake up and it’s all wrong.

This happens on relationships too. You take your eye off it and something changes. Maybe it’s subtle. You have a hard time talking with someone who you once went on and on with. You suddenly sense a chill in the air where there once was warmth. We go to sleep and then wake up to find something changed. Relationships, whether one on one or in groups, require tending and attention. Because one moment things seem fine and then we fall asleep.

This happens in our relationship with God as well. Things seem good — or at least not bad — in our spiritual life. The. We go to sleep, we stop paying attention, and then we find this chill in the air. That strange warming we once knew so well in prayer or scripture or service or worship suddenly just isn’t there. We look around for reasons — maybe we don’t like the hymns at church or maybe we’re just distracted and can’t quite pray or maybe we’re to busy to serve in some way. Before we know it all the ways that God uses to shine light in our lives are no longer so open — so free of obstruction. We fall asleep.

Now the good news is that God is always there and patiently waiting for us to open ourselves to that warmth again. But it’s hard to remember how sometimes. We get accustomed to the chill and forget how we found the warmth before. The really dangerous thing is when this turns from a kind of aimlessness into something more deleterious and corrosive — when in our estrangement we become the enemy who sneaks in. We, in our blindness and hardness of heart, become the trespasser.

In this pandemic time when we can’t gather as we have not so long ago it is crucial that we keep up our other disciplines. We have to pray. We have to read scripture. We have to find ways to connect and love. It’s going to be too easy right now for the pandemic to become the enemy sneaking in and weeding the garden of our spiritual life. Let’s stay awake, stay focused, and keep open to the loving movement of God in our hearts and lives.

Yours in Christ,

Robert+