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WHEN THERE'S SOMETHING 'DEAD' IN YOUR LIFE, BREAK FREE FROM IT AND PLANT IT AS A SEED IN THE SOIL OF GOD

As a preacher was saying the other night, when we have a "loss" in life -- when we fail in some way, or have a setback, perhaps a hurt, when we lose at something -- we need to take this "loss," detach from it, and plant is as a seed in the Garden of God. There it will flourish; there it will grow into something else.

Take your loss -- your loneliness, your illness, your heartbreak, your loss of a job or whatever -- and plant it as a seed in the soil of the Lord.

God honors those who don't give in to the negative but instead use it to gain something else.

Take that loss, that disappointment, that dead thing and plant it. Give it to Him. Then, wait until it germinates. Look at the miracles He creates with a seed. A little kernel of wheat, seemingly inert, is planted in soil, which is a combination of minerals and detritus -- dead organic matter; in the darkness of the ground the kernel soon sprouts roots that take up the nourishment and moisture and the little stalks become bigger shoots that soon break through the earth with leaves that digest the sun for us!

What was little, what seemed like it was dead, what was in darkness is now growing toward the sky and providing us with food -- wheat -- in a way that despite how botanists explain it is wondrous. It came to life with the touch of God.

Life is a challenge, filled with trials; each trial is a seed. The challenge is to cut off what's dead, plant it, and walk away from it.

Years ago, there was the grisly account of a hiker whose arm got caught during a landslide under a boulder. For hours, for days, he struggled to free it. But soon, it was obvious he'd die of hunger and thirst if he didn't do something drastic. His arm had lost circulation; it was lifeless; gangrenous; it was dead. After five days of trying everything else he he decided to amputate it and somehow did so with a pocket knife and was finally free of the lifeless limb. If he'd refused to have separated from it, he would have succumbed to the elements.

The same is true with us: when something "dies" in our lives -- a friendship, a relationship, a job -- we need to give it to God -- plant it -- and walk away from it. Don't die with what's dead. God will take it and make something unexpected from it, something greater than the tragedy or hurt or failure and loss. Look at Job. He lost his family, his fortune. For a season, he despaired -- and got nowhere. Then he listened to God and the Lord doubled what he once owned -- refurbished his life. Plant your failures! Plant your sorrows! "Pray it by ear." Listen for direction. Go with the rhythm of God, not the harsh beat of the world. Listen with the depth of your heart. His Voice is soft and slow but goes everywhere.

Make the rest of your life the best of your life.

The important step, however, is getting to “know Jesus in dialogue with Him, talking with Him in prayer, kneeling," says Pope Francis. "If you do not pray, if you do not talk with Jesus, you do not know Him. You know things about Jesus, but you do not go with that knowledge, which He gives your heart in prayer. Know Jesus with the mind -- the study of the Catechism: know Jesus with the heart -- in prayer, in dialogue with Him. This helps us a good bit, but it is not enough. There is a third way to know Jesus: it is by following Him. Go with Him, walk with Him.” It is necessary, said Pope Francis, “to go, to walk along the streets, journeying.” It is necessary “to know Jesus in the language of action,” Francis said.

When you have fears, confront them, challenge them, which will cause your faith to grow.

-- Michael H. Brown