Waiting for the harvest

In Jesus’ parable of the tares and the wheat, an enemy sneaks into a farmer’s wheat field and plants a look-alike crop, probably darnel, a sometimes noxious weed. Soon the foreman’s trained eye recognizes the weed and he wants to pull it out. But the farmer knows that process would damage the tender wheat. So he instructs his men to wait until the harvest when the difference between the mature plants will be obvious. "First, he says, gather the weeds and burn them. Then gather the wheat and store it safely in the barn."

My friend, Arthur, retired Illinois farmer and fellow healer, says that burning the weeds is important – that’s how you destroy the seeds so that the weeds cannot sow another crop. So the solution includes the future.

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“Nothing is lost that God gives: . . .

Leaving the seed of Truth to its own vitality,

it propagates: the tares cannot hinder it.”

(Mary Baker Eddy, Miscellaneous Writings 111:16)

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I think it’s significant that Jesus counseled patience. The Supreme Being has created man in His likeness, intelligent and unselfish, capable of accomplishing much good. When distractions and unproductive notions take root, that isn’t the end of the story.

If somebody you care about is making poor life decisions, and isn't hearing you, be patient. The destructive may look like it’s mingling with the good, but it cannot touch or harm what God has planted in His children. He continues to nourish His goodness in us until it inevitably matures. We can support the out-of-sight growing that's going on. Harvest time will uproot and destroy the weeds. And the good that has always been there remains intact.

Tares and Wheat Parable