TALKING IN PARABLES

Isaiah chapter 6: verses 9 to 10: The Lord said, Go, and tell this people: You will listen and listen again, but not understand; and see and see again, but not perceive. For the heart of this nation has grown coarse, and their ears are dull of hearing, and they have shut their eyes; for fear they should see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their heart, and be converted, and be healed by me. He that has ears to hear, let him hear. These are the exact words of Jesus quoted by St Mark in retelling the Parable of the Sower. It's easy to see why Jesus used parables as his teaching tool. They are poetry on the ear and give food for thought. Meanwhile, it is obvious that they don't actually mean what they appear to say; parables are clearly exaggerations of real hidden truths. So they stick in the mind, working their magic while the world continues on its mundane course, oblivious to their subliminal effects. Parables are meant for people who can't read and write, who think slowly but deliberately until the penny drops, which it eventually it does with a “ping” of authenticity worthy of best porcelain. Many people interpret the parable of the sower as a commentary on the receptivity of human hearts to the divine message, the grains of truth broadspread by the Sower of the Word. But it can also be read as an observation on the process of natural selection. The variable condition of the ground where the seeds land determines the fate of the crop that is being sown. But no blame attaches to the seed, or indeed to the ground, which lacks any mechanism of self-improvement. The seeds lucky enough to land on favourable soil prosper, while those falling elsewhere get trodden on or become dry, or are eaten. No fault is imputed, it's just the luck of the draw. The successful seed harvests well and yields good stock for the next sowing. In the long run, this is what counts: it's called survival of the fittest. This gives a different portrait of the God who controls all the processes which make up everyday life. Rather than demanding conformity to an ideal behaviour imposed by judgemental authorities, this is a God impartial to flattery and deaf to special pleading, whose principal concern is to maintain stable order. Men have to learn for themselves that their happiness is in their own hands, and depends on how they relate to one another, and to God himself. It is in man's interest to adjust his appetites and his aggression to the golden rule: do nothing to others that you would not have done to yourself. Look at it from God's viewpoint for a moment. What does He want for us? It's for us to be happy. What does He want from us? It isn't blind adulation; rather, intelligent appreciation. Not cringing fear; rather deep respect and, on occasions, awe. Not self-proclamation as a chosen people; rather the search for God's face in the unprivileged, those who are oppressed (especially by ourselves). Because until we can recognize His face in every one, we are not in touching distance of the one-ness He wants for us. The problem with parables, has been since the beginning, is that they are open to misinterpretation. In a culture which seeks a victim to take the blame whenever problems arise, there will always be a tendency to see a point which was not intended, especially if parables are the chosen means of commentary. But give it a little while; the skies will eventually clear and then, the light will flood in, and: “Ping”