Wheat and Weeds

Jesus told them another parable, “The kingdom of heaven can be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field.  While everyone was asleep, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and left.  When the plants sprouted and produced grain, the weeds also appeared.  Then the servants of the owner came to him and said: ‘Sir, was it not good seed that you sowed in your field?  Where did the weeds come from?’  “He answered them: ‘This is the work of an enemy.’ They asked him: ‘Do you want us to go and pull up the weeds?’ He told them: ‘No, when you pull up the weeds, you might uproot the wheat with them.  Let them just grow together until harvest; and at harvest time I will say to the workers: Pull up the weeds first, tie them in bundles and burn them; then gather the wheat into my barn.” (Mt 13:24-30)

This parable of Jesus drives us to reflect upon a very crucial perception we undergo in everyday life.  In the worldly standards, the suggestion of the servants appear to be a good suggestion as any well-informed farmer would do.  But when it comes to the application of this parable in the field of human heart, the words of the master project itself to be words of wisdom.  The master prevented them from pulling the weeds for this one reason, “when you pull up the weeds, you might uproot the wheat with them.”  The master knew how difficult it is to distinguish between the wheat and the weeds.  They look so much alike.

Our human perception and experience is so limited and finite in comparison with the Divine intervention.  When applying this indistinguishable fact in our human relationships, it is really difficult to differentiate between the “wheat” and the “weeds”: To differentiate between the genuine lovable person from the not genuine; To differentiate between the faithful person from the unfaithful; To differentiate between the truthful person from the untruthful person.  But still we proceed with our human relationship with lot of complexities with a hopeful trust in the person whom we love.  If that is the phenomenon among human beings, how much more it would be with God who is so loving and caring unconditionally towards each one of us personally.

Thought breeds fear

How does fear come about – fear of tomorrow, fear of losing a job, fear of death, fear of falling ill, fear of pain?  Fear implies a process of thought about the future or about the past.  I am afraid of tomorrow, of what might happen.  I am afraid of death; it is at a distance still, but I am afraid of it.  Now, what brings about fear?  Fear always exists in relation to something.  Otherwise there is no fear.  So one is afraid of tomorrow or of what has been or what will be.  What has brought fear?  Isn’t it thought?  Thought creates the future as death, and I am frightened of that.  So thought breeds fear.  I think about my losing a job or I might lose a job, and thought creates the fear.  So thought always projects itself in time, because thought is time.

An excerpt from the talks of Jiddu Krishnamurthy (An Indian Philosopher).  This particular speech of J Krishnamurthy makes me to reflect often.