Seeds

I wanted to title this post "the miracle," but then there are so many miracles it might be confused with other posts later.  This post is about the miracle of seeds.  I was so caught up in the details and science of planting day that I it didn't really hit me until this morning, after the rain all day and all night.  I wasn't expecting to see much, especially with the cucumbers which hadn't sprouted after more than 8 weeks in the basement.  I knew they were fragile and didn't like replanting, so I didn't think they would make it.  However, as we went out to the deck we saw this:

So later today I was meditating on the miracle of a little, tiny seed that turns into a plant, that turns into food for us, and that becomes a seed to be planted again.  I guess it is just science, but it still seems a little incredible that a seriously dead-looking thing could become something so full of life.  I remembered Jesus' analogy to his death and resurrection in John 12:24,  "I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains by itself alone. But if it dies, it produces many others and yields a rich harvest."

And then I remembered all the parables about seeds, especially the one about the the good soil, birds (you might insert "chickens"), weeds, and rocky soil, and I realize how much work it actually takes to make sure the seeds sprout and don't get eaten or trampled or choked with weeds.  It suddenly makes more sense about why faith like a mustard seed would matter.  Assuming that the mustard seed is planted in some good soil, watered, and given sunlight, a very small thing that appears dead turns into a crazy, living bush-weed.  And the kingdom of heaven is like that seed.