God's Plan

One day God spoke to St. Francis:

"Frank you know all about gardens and nature and stuff. What in the world is going on down there on earth? What happened to all the dandelions, violets, thistle, and the clover, and all the other wild flowers?

I had a perfect no-maintenance garden plan. Those plants grow in any type of soil, withstand drought and multiply like crazy. The nectar from the blossoms attracts butterflies, honey bees and flocks of songbirds. I expected to see a vast garden of colors by now. But, all I see are these green rectangles."

Francis answered Him,

"It's the tribes that settled there, Lord. The Suburbanites. They started calling your wild flowers "weeds" and went to a lot of trouble to kill them and replace them with grass."

Grass? But, grass is so boring. It's not colorful. It doesn't attract butterflies, birds and bees; only grubs and sod worms. It doesn't like hot OR cold. Do these Suburbanites really want all that grass growing there?"

"Apparently so, Lord. They go to great pains to grow it and keep it green. They begin each spring by fertilizing grass and poisoning any other plant that crops up in the lawn."

Then God said, "The spring rains and warm weather probably make grass grow really fast. That must make the Suburbanites happy."

"Apparently not, Lord. As soon as it grows a little, they cut it-sometimes twice a week."

"They cut it? Do they then bail it like hay?"

"Not exactly, Lord. Most of them rake it up and put it in bags."

"Why do they do THAT? Is it a cash crop? Do they sell it?"

"No, Sir, just the opposite. They pay to have it taken away"

GOD:

Now, let me get this straight. They fertilize grass so it will grow. And, when it does grow, they cut it off and pay to throw it away?

ST. FRANCIS:

Yes, Sir.

GOD:

These Suburbanites must be relieved in the summer when we cut back on the rain and turn up the heat. That surely slows the growth and saves them a lot of work.

ST. FRANCIS:

You aren't going to believe this, Lord. When the grass stops growing so fast, they drag out hoses and pay more money to water it so they can continue to mow it and pay to get rid of it.

GOD:

Well, at least they kept some of the trees. That was a sheer stroke of genius, if I do say so myself. The trees grow leaves in the spring to provide beauty and shade in the summer. In the autumn, they fall to the ground and form a natural blanket to keep moisture in the soil and protect the trees and bushes. It's a natural circle of life.

ST. FRANCIS:

You better sit down, Lord. The Suburbanites have drawn a new circle. As soon as the leaves fall, they rake them into great piles and pay to have them hauled away.

GOD:

No. What do they do to protect the shrub and tree roots in the winter to keep the soil moist and loose?

ST. FRANCIS:

After throwing away the leaves, they go out and buy something which they call mulch. They haul it home and spread it around in place of the leaves.

GOD:

And where do they get this mulch?

ST. FRANCIS:

They cut down trees and grind them up.

GOD: [sighs] Never mind.

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God has a plan. Most of the time we're not smart enough to recognize what it is, but He definitely has a plan. In the first reading today, we see part of God's plan. Sarah would have a son. Abraham and Sarah were both old, well beyond child-bearing age. But God had a plan. It didn't make sense to Abraham and Sarah, but today we can see how it all played out. Abraham became the father of a "great and populous nation". Fortunately, the couple listened to God and did His will.

So, where are we today. Sadly, most people today just don’t seem to care about God’s plan. I mean, God’s plans can be so inconvenient. Nobody can afford big families anymore, so we use artificial birth control. We put our plan ahead of God’s.

It’s inconvenient to be “stuck” in a marriage when the excitement is gone and it becomes routine. There are so many better choices out there and half of all marriages end in divorce anyway, even among Catholics, so why stay together? That’s our plan, not God’s.

That heart beating in its mother’s body isn’t really a person yet. There’s no reason to take responsibility for our own actions when an unwanted pregnancy happens. There’s a clinic that can solve the problem, or even a pill you can buy at the drug store without a prescription. We justify it by calling a baby a “choice”. That’s not God’s plan.

Sometimes God’s plan just doesn’t make sense to us. When there’s a flood, or a tornado, or an earthquake, or when someone we love gets sick and dies, especially at a young age, all we can do is shake our heads and wonder why? How could God do this? Why did He do this? We question the plan.

But when the flood wall holds, or when the tornado just misses the town, or the earthquake happens in an unpopulated area, or when our loved one gets better, we take that in stride. We know why He did those things. He loves us. He doesn’t want us to get hurt.

The fact is though, that everything happens for a reason. We just can’t get our minds around the big picture. Abraham and Sarah didn’t understand the plan but they went along with it because they trusted God.

[pause]

Maybe we don’t follow God’s plan because we don’t take the time to listen to what He’s telling us. Isn’t that Martha’s problem in today’s Gospel. God has sent His Son to be among us. The number of human beings who actually have had the chance to meet Jesus face-to-face, to listen to His words, and to ask Him questions is incredibly small; maybe just a few hundred in His short time on earth. Martha was one of those people. So, where was she? She was in the kitchen fixing dinner! She was setting the table. She was getting things ready. She thought that the way to Jesus’ heart was through His stomach.

We may read this story and think that Mary was being lazy, letting Martha do all the work. But Jesus could turn water into wine. He could feed the multitudes with a few fish and a couple of loaves of bread. He didn’t come to eat. He came to give us the good news. Martha should have been listening.

But, aren’t all of us Marthas, at least some of the time. Jesus still speaks to us in the Scriptures. He speaks to us in the Mass. He speaks to us in nature. He speaks to us through one another. But do we listen?

When we read “Harry Potter” instead of the Bible, aren’t we being like Martha? When we miss Mass to go to a ballgame, or just to sleep in, aren’t we being like Martha? When we take the interstate instead of taking the slower two lane highway, missing the beauty of the countryside, just so we can get someplace a few minutes sooner, aren’t we being like Martha?.

My wife’s going to nail me on this one, but when we sit staring at the television instead of listening to one another, aren’t we being like Martha?

Even when we do something good, when we help the poor, or visit the sick, if don’t look and listen for God in those situations, aren’t we being just like Martha?

[pause]

Maybe God’s plan interferes with our plans. Or maybe we just haven’t taken the time to listen to what He’s telling us. Whether we’re killing God’s flowers because we’ve decided they’re weeds, or calling an unborn child “a choice” so we can end its life, when we put our plan first, we’re putting God’s plan last and there’s no way that’s going to be good for us in the long run.