You do not know what manner of spirit you are of

 

 Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, and sent messengers before His face.  And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him.  But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem.  And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, "Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?"  But He turned and rebuked them, and said, "You do not know what manner of spirit you are of.  For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them."  And they went to another village. 

 

 Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, "Lord, I will follow You wherever You go."  And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."  Then He said to another, "Follow Me."  but he said, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father."  Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God."  And another also said, "Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house."  But Jesus said to him, "No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."

 

- Luke 9:51–62 

 

Yesterday we read that, when Jesus, James, John, and Peter had come down from the mount of the Transfiguration on the following day, a great multitude met Him.  Suddenly a man from the multitude cried out, saying, "Teacher, I implore You, look on my son, for he is my only child.  And behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out; it convulses him so that he foams at the mouth; and it departs from him with great difficulty, bruising him.  So I implored Your disciples to cast it out, but they could not."  Then Jesus answered and said, "O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you and bear with you?  Bring your son here."  And as he was still coming, the demon threw him down and convulsed him.  Then Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the child, and gave him back to his father.  And they were all amazed at the majesty of God.  But while everyone marveled at all the things which Jesus did, He said to the disciples, "Let these words sink down into your ears, for the Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men."  But they did not understand this saying, and it was hidden from them so that they did not perceive it; and they were afraid to ask Him about this saying.  Then a dispute arose among them as to which of them would be greatest.  And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart, took a little child and set him by Him, and said to them, "Whoever receives this little child in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me.  For he who is least among you all will be great."  Now John answered and said, "Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow with us."  But Jesus said to him, "Do not forbid him, for he who is not against us is on our side."

 

  Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, and sent messengers before His face.  And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him.  But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem.  And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, "Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?"  But He turned and rebuked them, and said, "You do not know what manner of spirit you are of.  For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them."  And they went to another village.  As we have observed of others in the Gospels (such as, for example, the sisters Martha and Mary), these two brothers, James and John, are here true to type.  We recall that Jesus has named them Boanerges, meaning "Sons of Thunder" (Mark 3:17).  In our previous reading (see above), it was the brother John who said, "Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow with us."  (Take notice of the plural "we" in that statement).  Jesus replied, "Do not forbid him, for he who is not against us is on our side."  Here, it is these brothers who ask if the disciples should command fire to come down from heaven and consume the Samaritans who did not receive Christ into their village (for His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem).  Here Christ's reply to these brothers similarly tempers their "fiery" responses, and puts them in mind of what manner of spirit they are of.  For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them."

 

  Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, "Lord, I will follow You wherever You go."  And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."  Then He said to another, "Follow Me."  but he said, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father."  Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God."  And another also said, "Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house."  But Jesus said to him, "No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."  My study Bible comments on the phrase I will follow You.  It notes here that there is a cost to discipleship.  Here, it says, Jesus reveals three of them.  First, the disciple relinquishes personal or earthly security.  That is, if the Lord has nowhere to lay His head, then neither will the disciple.  Secondly, there is nothing -- not even the honor due to parents -- which can be an obstacle to serving the Lord.  Finally, a disciple cannot delay in accomplishing the good that Christ demands.  

 

 We often minimize the demands of discipleship in our modern context.  We live in a world which, for the most part in the developed or developing countries, glorifies consumerism to a certain extent.  Or, barring overt glamorizing of money and all that it can do for us, popular culture and modern life of great advancements in technology and all manner of consumer goods becomes a template for the way in which we live our lives, and the ways we think about how life works.  All manner of things become some kind of object of consumption, even to the point of choosing what our religion teaches and how we follow it.  In other words, "sacrifice" as a concept becomes minimized and even to some extent a scandal.  On a certain level, this even becomes unconscious, for it is the stuff of the societies we live in and the modern telecommunications we consume and use.  Do we want a Christianity that enables us to pursue the great dreams of success taught by the modern world?  We can find a variety or flavor that offers this.  Would we like a Christianity that teaches us that we needn't learn any discipline on our appetites and passions?  We can find that too.  Do we want a Christianity that corrects no one, and says "no" to nothing?  It's easy to call ourselves tolerant while we refuse to notice how much these attitudes allow or even enable harm to others.  On the other hand, the modern world in popular culture is often reacting to overly harsh attitudes of the past as well.  In today's reading, we get a balance between both of these extremes.  On the one hand, Jesus corrects James and John Zebedee, who wonder if they should bring down fire upon the Samaritan villagers who refuse to receive Christ, for Christ has now set his face to go toward Jerusalem and the Cross.  We recall that when Jesus sent the apostles out on their first mission, He taught them to "shake the very dust" from their feet in rebuke against those places where they are not received (Luke 9:5).  Here the Zebedee brothers seem to be consumed with the idea that a worldly kingdom is about to be established by Jesus, complete with the power of holy fire such as shown by the prophet Elijah (1 Kings 18:20-40), and we can imagine that the dispute about who among the disciples would be the greatest reflected this understanding (see yesterday's reading, above; see also Mark 10:35-45).  In today's reading, Jesus rebuffs such attitudes toward power among His disciples, saying to them, "You do not know what manner of spirit you are of."  Following immediately upon this lesson, we are given examples of sacrifice necessary to be a disciple, which couples with Christ's teaching on the use of power.  Even such pressing circumstances which we deem ostensibly "good," such as the burial of a parent, fall to a secondary place when called to discipleship.  Here, Jesus tells the would-be disciple, "Let the dead bury their own dead," implying that those whom he has left behind are not interested in the kingdom of God Christ asks him to go preach instead.  Another reflects the same sentiments of home and family:  "Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house." But Jesus replies, "No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."   In a modern context, midst a breakdown of the family, we are often told that family values are the emphasis of Christianity.  But this can also obscure the fact of discipleship and the sacrifices it requires, even its priorities as explained here by Christ.  Sacrifice entails not only dispelling our conventional social ideas about power (which includes the power of consumption) but also social obligation and the priority given to a call from Christ.  To carry one's cross, to be crucified with Christ in this sense, is to learn to discern where we're called away from the things we might think are "good" to the higher good of service, discipleship, and sacrifice that God asks of us.  Each one's cross will be different, just as each social construct belongs to its own period of time and place in terms of how we're asked to change our thinking, and what to give up at times even what we think of as "good" and "successful" for the vision that God has for us instead.  In our time and place, we have a powerful call to consumerism, to the latest technologies, to obedience to one social realm or another, even to cancel culture.  Let us temper all of our impulses with prayer and the call from Christ, as best as we can discern.  Let us embrace the sacrifice that leads us to our own higher good that we can't know nor realize without it.  For Christ calls us beyond where we are and what we know, into the places we don't know, in order to grow as His disciples.  For all these things are teaching us "what manner of spirit" we must be of.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God

 

 Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, and sent messengers before His face.  And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him.  But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem.  And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, "Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?"  But He turned and rebuked them, and said, "You do not know what manner of spirit you are of.  For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them."  And they went to another village.

Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, "Lord, I will follow You wherever You go."  And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."  Then He said to another, "Follow Me."  But he said, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father."  Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God."  And another also said, "Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house."  But Jesus said to him, "No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."

 

- Luke 9:51-62 

 

On Saturday, we read that the next day after the Transfiguration, when Jesus, John, James, and Peter had come down from the mountain, a great multitude met Him.  Suddenly a man from the multitude cried out, saying, "Teacher, I implore You, look on my son, for he is my only child.  And behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out; it convulses him so that he foams at the mouth; and it departs from him with great difficulty, bruising him.  So I implored Your disciples to cast it out, but they could not."  Then Jesus answered and said, "O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you and bear with you?  Bring your son here."  And as he was still coming, the demon threw him down and convulsed him.  Then Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the child, and gave him back to his father.  And they were all amazed at the majesty of God.  But while everyone marveled at all the things which Jesus did, He said to His disciples, "Let these words sink down into your ears, for the Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men."  But they did not understand this saying, and it was hidden from them so that they did not perceive it; and they were afraid to ask Him about this saying. Then a dispute arose among them as to which of them would be greatest.  And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart, took a little child and set him by Him, and said to them, "Whoever receives this little child in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me.  For he who is least among you all will be great."  Now John answered and said, "Master we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow with us."  But Jesus said to him, "Do not forbid him, for he who is not against us is on our side."

 

  Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, and sent messengers before His face.  And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him.  But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem.  And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, "Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?"  But He turned and rebuked them, and said, "You do not know what manner of spirit you are of.  For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them."  And they went to another village.  Now that Jesus is on His way to Jerusalem, He has steadfastly set His face to go toward His Passion.  From Galilee, He must pass through Samaria.  Let us understand that He is headed toward rejection by His own people, and so in a sense, this rejection by the Samaritans is a preparation for the disciples.  Clearly, as Jesus says, they must learn "what manner of spirit" they are of.  They will face an incredible amount of rejection, both in Jerusalem and in their missions and ministries afterward, in the Church.  But their mission will always be to follow their Master, who has come not to destroy men's lives, but to save them.  See John 3:17.  They must learn to move on, as did Jesus, to another village.  We know Jesus' instructions for encountering rejection among the Jews (Luke 9:4); here they are among the Samaritans.

Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, "Lord, I will follow You wherever You go."  And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."  Then He said to another, "Follow Me."  But he said, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father."  Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God."  And another also said, "Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house."  But Jesus said to him, "No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."  My study Bible comments on this passage that, as Jesus responds to those who would like to follow Him, He teaches that there is a cost to discipleship.  He reveals three of them.  First, the disciple relinquishes personal or earthly security; that is, if the Lord has nowhere to lay His head, then neither will the disciple.  Second, there is nothing, not even the honor due to parents, that can be an obstacle to serving the Lord.  Finally, a disciple cannot delay in accomplishing the good that Christ demands.

 

These notes on discipleship in our last passage sound very harsh at first reading.  Even Jesus' commands sound like they could be very harsh:  "Let the dead bury their own dead," speaking of one's father, and, "No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God," speaking of saying farewell to those at one's house.  But these are commands that reflect, first of all, the urgency of the time.  Jesus has "steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem."  It is the time for Him to act, His hour (John 12:27).  We must remember that God's timing is crucial to this picture.  We're told in Ecclesiastes, "To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven" (see Ecclesiastes 3).  This is the time for Christ's purpose, His hour of glory and glorification.  It is the time of the Cross.  But so it is in our own lives and with our own purposes set forth by God.  There are times when we're to act and to respond.  Everyone makes choices for how they are to serve God, and once that choice is made there is a hierarchy of necessities that one must face.  Do I go home now for a visit, or do I heed this call in my heart and during my prayer to act as it seems God is commanding me?  One cannot suggest that every single impulse is from God, but there are times when prayer and discernment, when speaking with pastors, and asking brothers and sisters in the Church to pray for oneself and one's choices, all add up to what seems like a powerful call, a decision to be made, even (and perhaps often) when we seem to have compelling reasons to delay, turn the other way, and put this off.  The story of Jonah is illustrative of this point.  Indeed, the first chapter of that story is all about Jonahs' disobedience, his refusal of the call from God (Jonah 1).  Similarly to Jonah, there are those of us who are aware we have put off a decision repeatedly put forward to us during prayer, and have experienced the bad outcome as another lesson from God, another pronouncement of Jesus' statement that we're not to look back once we've put our hand to the plow.  In terms of family obligations, it is often surprising how one will find that things work out, with family members much more obliging than we thought possible, or circumstances creating opportunities for us to know it was better that we responded to that call.  Oftentimes, it happens otherwise.  Our family obligation might disappoint ourselves and even those whom we sought to please, and God's call was the better priority in retrospect.  These are small examples from experience, but suffice to say that God calls us where love calls us.  We're not asked to treat family and loved ones poorly.  Nor are we asked sacrifices that will not in the long run benefit us and our lives overall -- especially in terms of values gained, character expanded, and the greatest love part of our internal experience.  While these words in today's Gospel reading sound harsh, in effect they are Christ's words of love, telling us about priorities and the values of the Kingdom.  There will be times -- and one may testify that this is so -- when it seems we are throwing away important relationships and norms in order to follow what seems like a fool's errand that is the product of our faith.  But those times have embedded within them a prescience we're not always in touch with, and that is truly where faith comes in, even how our faith grows.  God asks of us courage, even as Christ shows His courage.  Sometimes we are being asked for a greater humility than we knew.   Let us consider the help we have to make good decisions and find our way with faith.  Remember that the God we serve is love, whose kindness and mercy and grace is our guiding light.  For we, too, must know what manner of spirit we are of.  Ultimately our choices are about the values we wish to help to bear into the world, the greater love that might not make sense to the world, but which we nonetheless can know.

 

 

No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God

 

Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, and sent messengers before His face.  And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him.  But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem.  And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, "Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?"  But He turned and rebuked them, and said, "You do not know what manner of spirit you are of.  For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them."  And they went to another village.  

Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, "Lord, I will follow You wherever You go."  And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."  Then He said to another, "Follow Me."  But he said, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father."  Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God."  And another said, "Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house."  But Jesus said to him, "No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." 

 

- Luke 9:51-62 

 

On Saturday, we read that it happened on the day after the Transfiguration, when they had come down from the mountain, that a great multitude met Him.  Suddenly a man from the multitude cried out, saying, "Teacher, I implore You, look on my son, for he is my only child.  And behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out; it convulses him so that he foams at the mouth; and it departs from him with great difficulty, bruising him.  So I implored Your disciples to cast it out, but they could not."  Then Jesus answered and said, "O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you and bear with you?  Bring your son here."  And as he was still coming, the demon threw him down and convulsed him.  Then Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the child, and gave him back to his father.  And they were all amazed at the majesty of God.  But while everyone marveled at all the things which Jesus did, He said to His disciples, "Let these words sink down into your ears, for the Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men."  But they did not understand this saying, and it was hidden from them so that they did not perceive it; and they were afraid to ask Him about this saying.  Then a dispute arose among them as to which of them would be greatest.  And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart, took a little child and set him by Him, and said to them, "Whoever receives this little child in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me.  For he who is least among you all will be great."  Now John answered and said, "Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow with us."  But Jesus said to him, "Do not forbid him, for he who is not against us is on our side."

 

 Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, and sent messengers before His face.  And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him.  But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem.  And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, "Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?"  But He turned and rebuked them, and said, "You do not know what manner of spirit you are of.  For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them."  And they went to another village.  Let us note in the context of this story that Jesus has been teaching the disciples about the essential importance of humility to the concept of greatness.  On Saturday, we read that Jesus responded to the disciples' dispute among themselves about which of them would be greatest, presumably in Christ's kingdom which they may believe is both imminent and also a worldly kingdom.  He aimed to correct their thinking regarding what greatness is, bringing a child to His side and teaching them, "Whoever receives this little child in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me.  For he who is least among you all will be great" (see above).  Then when John told him they forbade another who was not of their group, but was casting out demons in Christ's name, Jesus taught them, "Do not forbid him, for he who is not against us is on our side."  So this rebuke to John and James follows those teachings on humility, and adds another dimension to their understanding:  "You do not know what manner of spirit you are of.  For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them."   It is yet another distinction of discipleship in Christ's kingdom, for "greatness" on worldly terms meant being like Caesar or other ruthless rulers, all-powerful, and vanquishing those who do not submit.

Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, "Lord, I will follow You wherever You go."  And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."  Then He said to another, "Follow Me."  But he said, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father."  Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God."  And another said, "Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house."  But Jesus said to him, "No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."  My study Bible comments on this passage that there is a cost to discipleship.  When this man declares, "I will follow You wherever You go," Jesus reminds him of three aspects of His own life that a disciples needs to understand in terms of following Him.  First, my study Bible says, a disciple relinquishes personal or earthly security -- if the Lord has nowhere to lay His head, neither will the disciples.  Second, there is nothing, not even the honor due to parents, that can be an obstacle to serving the Lord.  Finally, a disciple cannot delay in accomplishing the good that Christ demands.

 

 We should note, as has been indicated above, how each new teaching on the road toward Jerusalem is preparing the disciples for the type of kingdom they will be serving, what manner of discipleship they are learning, and the basic understanding of greatness that turns a worldly understanding upside down.  For the early Christians, the world was a place in which greatness was measured by strength and power.  The greatness of a Caesar was a boast of how many he had conquered or killed.  Julius Caesar wrote a book on the Gallic Wars (waged between 58 and 50 BC), in which he bragged that under himself as general over a million Gauls were killed.  This was propaganda meant to prop up his image, and indeed his resulting reputation helped him to win a civil war and declare himself dictator (in addition to gaining him much wealth).  This was the sort of thing thought of as "greatness" in the world into which Jesus was born, and in which the disciples now walk toward Jerusalem and Christ's Passion.  So, if the disciples expect Jesus to come into His kingdom when He arrives in Jerusalem, and if their expectations are that of a worldly kingdom, we can imagine the training they are undergoing for the things that are to come.  As pointed out above, from the time that He overheard their dispute as to who will be greatest in this kingdom, He has been teaching them about service and humility, about receiving even a little child in His name as if it is He Himself they receive.  He has taught them not to forbid others working in His name even if they do not follow with their group.  In today's reading, Christ is rejected by a Samaritan village as He begins the journey from Galilee to Jerusalem, and we can see the question posed by John and James Zebedee, the Sons of Thunder,  "Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?"  (1 Kings 18:20-40).  We might say that it sounds also as if they would like to experience the capacities of their own power that Christ has shared with them.  But Christ rebukes them, teaching them restraint and humility and the nature of His Kingdom and its mission:  "You do not know what manner of spirit you are of.  For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them."    They will need to correct their own understanding of greatness and of power, and of what it is that makes Christ's Kingdom great.  Let us not forget the transformation that takes place in the disciples which we can follow through the Scriptures, for John will become the Evangelist who gives us the Gospel and the Epistles which, more than any others, will emphasize the nature of God and the Kingdom as love (see, for example, 1 John 4:8).  James will become the first of the Twelve to be martyred (Acts 12:2).  Finally, we're given a number of things that are of importance with regard to traditional family structures:  a stable home, duties to parents and family, the expressions of affection or familial ties.  All of these are things most of us understand as good.  But note that what Christ teaches here is that loyalty first comes to God and however we are called to serve the ultimate Source of all good (James 1:17).  This is not to say that all of these ties of affection, family, and stable structure are false or bad -- but it is a powerful teaching that there may be times when we have to put those things second to the ways in which we are called, even when we are powerfully tested in our love for family and community.  Often it seems that we confuse sentimentality with the call of love:  there are times when the responsibilities of love are in conflict with our sentiment and nostalgic feelings of comfort.  We might be called to make hard choices -- such as the ones on display in the Gospel -- to learn to discern where love's powerful call to personal growth and spiritual fruit is calling us to struggle, to put our "hand to the plow" and go forward into what we don't yet know but where God's love is calling.  It has always been a part of many spiritual struggles to seek such discernment amid conflicting loyalties, in the Gospels and in the lives of the saints.   There is a deeper truth that calls to the place in us where God wants to bring us forward to the fullness of identity, the flowering of the potentials our Creator sees, that which brings the hundredfold harvest to the world.   It is a love that reaches down more deeply than all the other loves we know.  Just like tending and nurturing a garden, this is the call we need to know for the beauty of the world, and the new things we're asked to cultivate when we put our hand to the plow.