Ez 17:22-24; 2Cor 5:6-10; Mk 4:26-34
The 'Taos Hum' is a low-pitched sound heard in numerous places worldwide, especially in the USA, UK, and Northern Europe. It is usually heard only in quiet environments, and is often described as sounding like a distant diesel engine. Since it has proven indetectable by microphones or VLF antennae, its source and nature is still a mystery.
In 1997 Congress directed scientists and observers from some of the most prestigious research institutes in the nation to look into a strange low frequency noise heard by residents in and around the small town of Taos, New Mexico. For years those who had heard the noise, often described by them as a "hum", had been looking for
answers. To this day no one knows the cause of the hum.The sailing stones are a geological phenomenon found in the Racetrack
Playa (a seasonally dry lake located in the northern part of the Panamint Mountains
in Death Valley National Park, California, U.S.A.). The stones slowly move
across the surface of the playa, leaving a track as they go, without human or
animal intervention. They have never been seen or filmed in motion and are not
unique to The Racetrack. Similar rock travel patterns have been recorded in
several other playas in the region but the number and length of travel grooves
on The Racetrack are notable. Racetrack stones only move once every two or
three years and most tracks last for just three or four years. Stones with
rough bottoms leave straight striated tracks while those with smooth bottoms
wander. Stones sometimes turn over, exposing another edge to the ground and
leaving a different-sized track in the stone's wake.
The unusual insects, beetles of the family Lampyridae, have long
fascinated scientists.
In today's Gospel Mark narrates one of such mysteries of nature in the
parable of the seed that grows by itself. This is the only parable that Mark
alone relates to us. The kingdom of God is like a seed that is cast upon the
earth by a man. It sprouts and grows by itself. This parable is short, but it
is filled with unmistakable truths.
First of all it tells the helplessness of man. Man always stands
helpless before nature. The farmer does not make the seed grow. He does not
even understand how it grows. It has the secret of life and growth. No man has
ever created anything in the full sense of the term. Man can discover things;
he can rearrange things; he can develop them. Still he always stands
helpless before nature.
Commenting on the earthquakes in Chile and Haiti and the Atlantic storm
Xynthia currently battering Western Europe, the daily Correio da Manhã reminds
us that mankind is often helpless against the forces of nature: "Earthquakes
and tsunamis. Thunderstorms and storms. Researchers are looking for scientific
explanations for all types of natural disasters, and these explanations no
doubt exist. Modern man has grown used to a controlled and benign nature;
natural disasters are perceived as exceptions in a more or less perfect and
harmonious world. But this is not reality. Our relationship with nature is
tragic and hostile. In the past we accepted this tragic and brutal dialogue as
part of our fate - storms and floods were common and passed mostly without
comment. ... We thought that Earth was a peaceful place. But our experience is
that the Earth is rising up in protest; it threatens and torments us. It takes
the unwary by surprise." Behind all the happenings of the Earth there
is the power and hands of God. Once we are able to recognize it, we will be
able to strike harmony with nature and all that exist in nature.
Secondly, the parable tells us about the kingdom of God. Jesus so often
uses Illustrations from
the growth of nature to describe the coming of the Kingdom of God. Nature's
growth is imperceptible. Even if we watch we cannot see the daily growth of the
plants. But we notice them slowly over a period of time. The spread of God's
kingdom takes place in the same way.
In the spring of
1961, a small group of civil rights activists began the difficult, dangerous
and sometimes deadly journey toward breaking down the racial segregation laws
in the United States.
At the beginning
of these peaceful protests the size, intensity and ferocity of opposition
against them suggested it was pure futility in the attempt of creating any real
or lasting change.
History shows us
that this small beginning was in fact the catalyst for the larger major civil
rights movement that lead to the 1964 and 1965 Civil and Voting Rights Act
respectively.
These humble
beginnings become the foundations of inspiration for additional legislation,
used by Dr. Martin Luther King and others to help turned the country toward a
more positive path.
In the end it caused
the dismantling of blatant racism and systemic discrimination. It lead to the
mechanism of hope and change that eventually gave way to people largely not
being treated and judged by the colour of their skin but rather the content of
their character.
The parable also
reminds us that the nature’s growth is constant and inevitable. Night
and day, while man sleeps, growth goes on. There is nothing spasmodic about
God. The great trouble about human effort is that we are never constant.
One day we take one step forward; the next day we take two steps back.
But the work of God goes on quietly; unceasingly God unfolds his plan. We are
constantly reminded to participate in the plan of God.
Thirdly, the
parable tells that there is a consummation. There is a day when the harvest
comes. Harvest and judgment go hand in hand. When we thing of this coming day
three things are laid upon us. It is a summons to patience. It is a summons to
hope, and it is a summons to preparedness.
The greatest fear
of the modern man is fear of death. We know that death is inevitable, and
it comes to us at the appointed time. But we are not ready to welcome it,
rather we shudder at the thought of it. "The only certainty life contains
is death." Wrote Patricia Briggs. A plane flies over South
Beach with a banner that reads: "Death is the only certainty in
life". The only way to be prepared is to take our daily duties seriously,
nothing more; nothing less.
If we live in
patience which cannot be defeated, in hope which cannot despair, and
in preparation which ever sees life in the light of eternity, we will
always be ready for his consummation when it comes.