SEEDS, PLANTS and SOULS

16 FEEDING

As any farmer, forester or gardener knows,
plants must be fed to grow.
The water that enters must carry with it nutrients
 from which to build the chemicals
that form the tissues.

A plant needs a whole range of nutrients,
and - just as we do - will become weak and sickly
if it does not have a balanced diet.
This is particularly important
if we intend to harvest fruits and seeds from the plant,
as these need an abundance of nutrients
for their proper formation.

Much has been written in textbooks
about how to identify nutrient deficiencies in plants.
A lot can be learnt from the physical appearance
- the colour of leaves, blemishes, wilting, etc.
Some deficiencies are not so obvious,
and chemical analysis of the tissues
will only reveal the problem.

We need to feed ourselves spiritually too,
and if we starve ourselves,
then we also will become spiritually stunted.
What are our spiritual nutrients?

Reading and studying the Scriptures
with the help of the Holy Spirit
is one form of food.

"All Scripture is God-breathed
and is useful for
teaching, rebuking, correcting and training
in righteousness,
so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped
for every good work.
(II Timothy 3:16)

That was Paul writing to a co-worker Timothy.
He goes on to emphasise
the importance of explaining Scriptures to others:

"Preach the Word of God;
be prepared in season and out of season;
correct, rebuke and encourage
- with great patience and careful instruction.
For the time will come
when men will not put up with sound doctrine.
Instead, to suit their own desires,
they will gather around them a great number of teachers
 to say what their itching ears want to hear.
They will turn their ears away from the truth,
and turn aside to myths.
(II Timothy 4:2-4)

Thus it was with some concern
that I wrote my findings down,
because I did not want to be seen teaching
what I think you want to hear!

Worship, too, is spiritual nourishment
which must be inspired by the Holy Spirit to be effective.
 As the liturgies of the different churches will show,
there are many ways of worship,
much depending on traditions and culture.
Some worship in quietness, some in gay abandon.
Think of all the different ways
in which plants assimilate nutrients.

The Eucharist service is a very special form of worship,
 initiated by Jesus himself.
It is the most potent form of spiritual food,
and quite appropriately it is represented by physical food -
 the bread and the wine.

Alas, exactly how we are fed
has been another source of divisions in the church.
On the one hand,
some think that we are fed
simply by remembering Jesus' crucifixion.
On the other hand,
others believe that we are also fed
by the water and wine actually becoming
- in a mysterious way -
the body and blood of Jesus.
There are all degrees of understanding in between.

Here is what Jesus actually said
while celebrating the Jewish passover,
and instigating the Lord's supper.
 Of course,
it is translated into our English from the Aramaic
(his mother tongue)
via the Greek of the New Testament:

"While they were eating,
Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it,
and gave it to the disciples , saying,
"Take and eat; this is my body".
Then he took the cup, gave thanks
and offered it to them, saying
"Drink from it, all of you.
This is my blood of the convenant,
which is poured out for many
 for the forgiveness of sins"
 (Matthew 26:26-28).

How appropriate that bread comes from wheat grains
to which Jesus likened himself,
and that these represent the beginning of things,
whereas the wine comes from the vine fruit, a grape,
the fruit of Christ working in us,
the end of the plant cycle.

In Revelation, the last book of the Bible,
Jesus is referred to as the beginning and end of all things
- the Alpha and Omega.
Paul, in his letter to the Corinthians,
had to correct some misuse of Lord's supper,
 and interpreted in a practical way Jesus' words:

The Lord Jesus,
on the night that he was betrayed,
took bread and when he had given thanks,
he broke it and said,
"This is my body, which is for you;
do this in remembrance of me.
In the same way, after supper
he took the cup, saying,
"This cup is the new covenant in my blood;
do this, whenever you drink it,
in remembrance of me”.
For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup,
you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.
(I Corinthians 11:23-26)

Earlier on in his ministry,
Jesus described himself as bread in such a way
that many of his disciples
found it hard to accept his teaching.
Today, some Christians think that
Jesus was anticipating the institution of his Supper,
whereas others think he was referring to
the saving work of his crucifixion,
and that feeding was synonymous to belief in Jesus.
Here is part of what he said:

"I am the bread of life.
Your forefathers ate manna in the desert,
yet they died.
But here is the bread that comes down  from heaven,
which a man may eat and not die.
I am the living bread that came down from heaven.
If anyone eats of this bread,
he will live for ever.
This bread is my flesh,
which I will give for the life of the world."
(John 6:48-51)

On hearing this the Jews began to get very agitated
(as we still do)
- how could Jesus give them his flesh to eat?
Jesus went on:

"I tell you the truth,
unless you can eat the flesh of the Son of Man
and drink his blood,
you have no life in you.
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood
has eternal life,
and I will raise him up at the last day.
For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood
remains in me,
and I in him.
Just as the living Father sent me
and I live because of the Father,
so the one who lives on me will live because of me.
This is the bread that came down from heaven.
Your forefathers ate manna and died,
but he who feeds on this bread will live for ever."
(John 6:53-58)

At this point,
I would like to digress and explain what manna is
 - it makes an interesting digression.
To understand the reference Jesus made,
we must return to the time
when the Jews were wandering in the desert,
getting thoroughly fed up
thinking they were not going to get fed!
But God had not forgotten they needed food.
By a miracle he provided them
with meat and bread from heaven,
or manna.
He deliberately let them get hungry
so that he could teach them a lesson.
Moses explained God's purpose to the Israelites
as follows.

"He humbled you,
causing you to hunger
and then feeding you with manna,
which neither you or you fathers had known,
to teach you that man does not live by bread alone,
but on every word
that comes from the mouth of the Lord".
(Deuteronomy 8:3)

“...in the morning
there was a layer of dew around the camp.
When the dew was gone,
thin flakes like frost on the ground
appeared on the desert floor.
When the Israelites saw it,
they said to each other,
"What is it?"
For they did not know what it was.
Moses said to them,
"It is the bread the Lord has given you to eat”.
...Each morning everyone gathered as much as he needed,
and when the sun grew hot,
it melted away.
...The people of Israel called the bread manna.
It was white like coriander seed
and tasted like wafers made with honey.
(Exodus 16: 13-15,21,31)

Manna in Hebrew means "What is it?" hence the name!
The Israelites ate it for forty years,
and were told to keep some of this amazing food
for future generations to see.
In fact, it appears we still can see and eat it.

Many plants of the tamarisk family
are well adapted to dry and salty areas
near underground water courses.
They are very efficient at absorbing water
and mineral salts from the soil,
and excrete them through their leaves
so fast that they drip salty drops onto the ground,
killing off vegetation beneath.
One species of tamarisk is aided by an aphid,
which feeds on the sap
and exudes it as drops which crystallise.
These drops,
rather than tasting salty,
are peculiarly sweet,
like solidified honey.
And just the same size as coriander seeds!

This particular tree is found in Sinai
where the Israelites found God's manna,
and even now the Bedouins gather the exudate -
called Mann es-Samâ or Manna from Heaven
and eat and even export it.
Harvesting has to be in the cool of the morning,
for when the sun warms the ground,
ants become active and quickly eat the manna
(seeming to evaporate?)
.
The yield of manna
depends on the extent of winter rainfall,
and varies from year to year.
When the harvest is good,
one man can gather in a morning
sufficient for a day's ration.

So - like many miracles in the Bible,
it does seem that in the case of manna,
as with the quails,
a natural event was made supernatural by God
ensuring its perfect timing and extent.
You can read all about it,
and other fascinating archaelogical facts,
in "The Bible as History" by Werner Keller.

Another form of food is fellowship with other Christians.
We need each other to help feed our faith.
Jesus said:

"Again, I tell you
that if two of you on earth agree
about anything you ask for,
it will be done for you by my Father in heaven.
For where two or three are gathered together in my name,
there am I with them"
(Matthew 18:19-20)

Some plants, like the tamarisk, produce chemicals
that prevent the growth of other plants around them.
There is one bush
that actually gives off a poison from its roots,
thereby stopping others of the same species
growing too near to it.

Some people can behave like that!
But although it is a strategy for survival in some plants,
it is a recipe for disaster for the Christian community.
We can only grow in faith
if God's love in us can find expression in others.

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