A Spiritual Lesson from an Unlikely Tutor

Today I saw a most beautiful sight. I hope that you have seen it in your lifetime. But if not, it is my hope that one day you will see it. The sight I saw was grass. And it was beautiful because it was a lesson in spiritual formation.

This grass was not the nicely manicured lawns we might see in certain areas of our city. It was the long spindly and wild grass that has gone to seed, as they say. This little bit of green earth, unaware of my presence or existence, taught me much. The reason it had grown so high was because it continued to soak in the sun from above, to which it yearned to be ever nearer. It also soaked up the rain and nutrients from the soil that it might be healthy and thrive. That all these spindles of grass were where they were was not because they determined themselves to be there. Whether planted by a city employee or some other random event was not important. How they made their way to this little spot of earth did not matter. They simply grew where they were planted. They were faithful to that calling. And being faithful to that calling they were beautiful.

Their beauty was also seen in how they were moved along by the wind. The grass did not struggle against the wind nor stand in firm opposition to its gentle breeze. Rather, as it blew southward, the grass bent to the south. As it shifted directions and moved westward, the grass bent towards the sea. And yet when the wind was still, the grass stood tall, yearning again to be ever closer to the sun.

Such a simple picture. Such a beautiful picture. Such a simple lesson in spiritual life. The world in which we live in, created by our God, is teaming with lessons because it is charged with the grandeur of God. (Thank you Gerald Manley Hopkins.)

Learn from the grass. Be faithful to were you are planted. Yearn and strive for God, not out of desperation or anxiety or fear. Yearn for him, for there is life and joy and peace and love. Let his Spirit move you and listen to his guiding word. In so doing, you are beautiful, for you participate in the life of the Son, Jesus.

Grace & Peace,

– Matthew+