Seeds of Contemplation

Every moment and every event of our life on earth plants something in our soul.

For just as the wind carries thousands of winged seeds, so each moment brings with it germs of spiritual vitality that come to rest imperceptibly in our minds and wills. Most of these unnumbered seeds perish and are lost, because we are not prepared to receive them: for such seeds as these cannot spring up anywhere except in the good soil of freedom, spontaneity, and love …. The mind that is the prisoner of conventional ideas, and the will that is the captive of its own desire cannot accept the seeds of an unfamiliar truth and supernatural desire …. I must learn therefore to let go of the familiar and the usual and consent to what is new and unknown to me. I must learn to “leave myself” in order to find myself by yielding to the love of God. If I were looking for God, every event and every moment would sow, in my will, grains of God’s life that would spring up one day in a tremendous harvest.  (New Seeds of Contemplation, Thomas Merton, pp. 14, 16)

Take a few moments to contemplate the seeds that you sowed in the world today.  Name those that bring blessing and love into the world.  Allow them to sink down in that “good soil of freedom, spontaneity, and love”.   Nurture them with your attention and care.

Name also the seeds that you may have sown mindlessly or regretfully.  Release them from your heart and your mind, allowing them to drift away on the winds of forgetfulness.

Affirm your commitment and desire to plant more good seeds and look forward to a beautiful harvest of peace, joy, and love for all.