Hens and Chicks

In Matthew 23, Jesus says, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!”

In this scripture Jesus compares himself to a hen gathering her chicks under her wings. He expresses a great desire to gather the people of Jerusalem under his protective wings. His neutral observation of their choice to kill the prophets is interesting. Their choice doesn’t have to be our choice. 

A short time after his death on the cross Jesus appears to the people in the Americas who have been taught by prophets that he will come to earth and atone for their sins. They don’t get to see him during his time in Jerusalem but after his death, he goes to these people, his “other sheep.” (John 10:16) Of note, he says the same thing about gathering them like chicks. 

“And again, how oft would I have gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, yea, O ye people of the house of Israel, who have fallen; yea, O ye people of the house of Israel, ye that dwell at Jerusalem, as ye that have fallen; yea, how oft would I have gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens, and ye would not.” (3 Nephi 10:5)

The instinctive protection of a mother bird is illustrated in this story. After the 1988 wildfire that destroyed most of Yellowstone National Park, volunteers were sent in on foot to look for any animals that survived. A volunteer saw the charred remains of a mother bird on the ground with her wings outstretched. He nudged her carcass with his boot and discovered three baby chicks underneath who had survived. She died so that they would live.

Christ died so that we would live. He sacrificed his body to protect us. His outstretched arms beckon us to come. If we put our faith in his invitation to “Come unto me” (Matt 11:28) his strength will protect our marriages, our children and our sanity.  Faith in him is testing out his advice on our problems, humbly accepting his timing, aligning our wills with his Father’s will and doing our best to go the second mile.

The Battle of Jericho Revisited

Joshua led the Israelites in a decisive battle against the walled city Jericho.  After sending spies in to scope it out, he received divine help in overthrowing it.  His instructions were to march with the Ark of the Covenant around the city once a day for six days.  On the seventh day he was to march around the city with the Ark of the Covenant seven times and on the seventh time, the shofar (ram’s-horn trumpet) was to be blown and the people were to yell loudly.  Miraculously the walls fell down.  This event became memorialized in the Jewish calendar as the Feast of Trumpets.

I want to explore how this story could be applied allegorically to other situations.  There are many kinds of walls.  We build them to protect ourselves.  (See Hiding from Love by John Townsend).  Sometimes the walls we build end up inhibiting our freedom to move forward in life.  

For example: I have a fear of being abandoned.  So when I meet a new person that I’d like to have for a friend, I experience anxiety at the thought of rejection.  I approach friendship tentatively.  If there is any competition, I withdraw.  This fear has become ridiculous in that it prevents me from present happiness.

In order to break down the wall of fear, I might need to circle the problem.  I might read a book on the subject.  And reading can give essential insights into difficult problems, but it might take more circling.  I might need to consider my self-defeating thoughts.  I might need to accept my characteristics which are off-putting and decide that whatever others think, I love myself.  I might need to set some goals for meeting people and learning to be vulnerable (See Daring Greatly by Brene Brown).  And still, the walls may not come down.  

How many of us give up when one or two of our solutions are unsuccessful?

And what about that going seven times on the seventh day around the wall?  As we become more and more focused on a problem, we begin to gain emotional momentum.  This momentum is in the faith and hope needed to overcome the wall (See Getting Unstuck by Pema Chodron).  When we yell, with God’s help, the wall will come down.  

I think that often we have conflicting motives.  We want something but another desire conflicts with it in some way.  The yell that brings down walls comes from the unified voices of all our desires.  No longer are we conflicted.  No longer is there anything else that we want.  

God works miracles when we are finally ready.

Image credit:  By the Providence Lithograph Company [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Who's Got the Reins?

One of the most profound stories in the book Little Britches describes how the cowboys taught a horse to be ground tied.  They pegged the horse's reins to the ground just out of reach of water and left the horse there for a few days.  It was torture, but the lesson was never forgotten.  When the reins were down, the horse knew not to move.  This method is not used today as far as I can tell.

The reins guide the horse with the slightest of pressure.  The reins give the owner a lot of control.  This idea was used in the Bible to describe the relationship that God has with his followers.  God holds the reins and directs us with the slightest of movements.

"I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings." (Jer 17:10)

How does God check our hearts?  He uses the reins to see if we will obey when we hear His whisper. It is a reality check not a guess.

My baby climbs.  He gets into things that he shouldn't and often spills liquid intentionally.  If I say "no" to him, he looks at me but he doesn't respond.  He probably understands the word just by the tone and manner that I say it but his heart hasn't been trained yet.

When God warns me, I should do more than just look at Him.  My heart recognizes His voice.  Unlike the baby, I have been trained.

The Bible says that God gave Jezebel "space to repent."  Her disregard for Him led to a heavy punishment.  It says that God will judge the works each one of us has done.  Our works will be judged by how we responded to the reins.  Our reward will be given at the judgement day. (Rev 2:20-23)

So what happens when we drift away from God?  Who has the reins then?  Well, God allows us to be driven as chaff or to be tossed as a ship without a sail or anchor.  He lets us experience life without the reins.

Last Days Parables

Image of the Parables from my Sketchbook

My art is amateur at best but it was interesting to compile images from all these parables into one composite.  For additional study, the links take you to the chapters where each one is referred to in scripture.

Parables of the Last Days
The Ten Virgins - Matt 25:1-13, D&C 45: 56-57, D&C 63:54
The Fig Tree - Matt 24:32-33, Mark 13:28-29, Luke 21:29-31, D&C 35:16, JS-M 1:38-40
The Hen - Matt 23:37-38, Luke 13:34-35, 3 Ne 10:4-6, D&C 43:24-25
The Wheat & the Tares - Matt 13:24-30 & 36-43, D&C 86:1-7, D&C 101:64-68, D&C 38:12
The Supper - Matt 22:1-14, Luke 14:16-24, Rev 19:7-9, D&C 58:8-12, D&C 65:3
The Thief - Matt 24:42-44, 1 Thes 5:2, 2 Pet 3:10, D&C 106:4-5
The Net - Matt 13:47-50
The Stone - Dan 2:34-45, Dan 8:25, D&C 65:2
The Horns - Dan 7:1-28
The Seven Angels/Seals - Rev 8

The Parable of the Sower

Jesus taught using parables, short symbolic stories, so that the listener would understand only if they knew of the symbols being used.  This prevented the uneducated from being condemned if they rejected Jesus’ message because they didn’t understand the message.  In this post I will explain the symbolism as clearly as I can.  There is plenty of food for thought.

One of the few parables which has an interpretation given in scripture is the parable of the sower in Matthew 13.  The story goes... that a farmer is planting seeds.  Some of his seeds fell outside (“by the wayside”) of his prepared ground.  They were “devoured” by birds.  Some of his seeds fell where there wasn’t much earth and after they sprouted they were scorched by the sun.  Some fell “among thorns” possibly weeds and were “choked” or crowded out by the faster growing weeds.  Lastly some seeds fell on good ground and produced a harvest for the farmer of 100%, 60% or 30% depending on other factors.

The symbolic meaning is explained later in the same chapter.  The farmer is anyone spreading the gospel message.  When someone hears the message, their response is symbolized by the ground’s fertility as described in the parable.  For example, if a person hears the word of God and doesn’t understand it, they are like the seeds that fell outside the prepared ground.  Something devours the seed before it has a chance to sprout.  In the parable it’s birds.  The birds symbolize the devil.  Peter warned later in the New Testament book of 1 Peter, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.”

The second soil described in the parable is rocky.  In the interpretation, the person hears the word of God and accepts it to grow but then problems arise or someone mocks and the new ideas are scorched.  They are left to wither and the person moves on to other ideas and projects.

The third scenario is that the seed falls among thorns, or weeds.  In this case, the person hears the word of God but the stresses of life, especially dishonesty and wealth, crowd out the seed so that it can’t grow.  The ideas of the gospel were good but they were crowded out by faster growing interests.

Finally some seeds are planted in good ground.  This is symbolic of the person who hears the word of God and understands it.  The harvest is symbolic of the fruits of gospel principles in blessing people’s lives.  Sometimes the blessings are bountiful like a 100% return on an investments.  Sometimes the blessings are fewer like a 30% return.  

Painting by Camille Pissarro

Now most people don’t need an education to understand how seeds work.  However, the truly educated then and now would recognize some of the symbols.  For example, Ezekiel is the only Old Testament prophet who spoke of “stony hearts.”  He said that God would give you an new heart and that it would be like having a bountiful harvest.  In fact Ezekiel says that other people would marvel that desolate ground could bring a harvest like the Garden of Eden.  (Ezek 36:34-35)

Jeremiah another Old Testament prophet advised the House of Israel not to plant among thorns.   He compared sins to thorns and prophesied that the “lion” would make the land so desolate that the “heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of the princes; and the priests shall be astonished and the prophets shall wonder.”  So an educated person might have heard of Jeremiah’s prophesies and know about the destruction but may not have equated it with the reaction of people to God’s word.

Jesus was a master teacher.  He brought images into his parables that reminded people of the teachings of the prophets.  He gave people something new to think about in terms of seeds and hearts and harvests.  He protected the ignorant.  He challenged the religious elite.  He invites us all to bear fruit.

Image from Wikipedia