The View from Under the Dirt

I sat down with the apostle Paul this morning to confide in him.  I was feeling a bit cranky. "Paul," I complain, "my life is tough.  Nothing I do lasts.  I am weary, worn down.  And, I admit it, sometimes I would like a little attention.  I long for a pat on the back, a plaque on my wall, something, anything I could point to on bad days and say to myself,  'See?  I am a good person!'" 

Paul changes the subject.  I wonder if he was listening.  "Do you ever garden, you know, grow things from seeds?"

"Sure, well, not very often."  I admit.

"It's like this,"  Paul switched to his patient parent voice to explain. "There is a mystery here that is escaping you.  There is much more to this than you see on the surface."

"You are like a seed, planted by a master gardener. This life is the soil you grow in.  Later, looking back on it, you will be able to see what grew under the dirt, out of your little seed. If you look at it today, nothing seems to matter, but when your little seed sprouts, the beautiful thing that grows will live forever.  You may not get any respect now, but someday people will marvel.  You are weak now, but then you will be powerful.  Your body is just a natural body, of course you have sickness and aging to deal with.  Someday though, you will have a wonderful spiritual body so different from this one that you can't imagine it.  The first man was made of the stuff of earth, dust.  You are like him.  Someday though you will be like the man of heaven instead.   So, don't get discouraged.  Just wait.  You'll see."

As he walks away he gives me a parting word of advice.  "Beloved, don't give up.  Stand straight and tall and strong and refuse to give in to discouragement. Live the life the Lord has given you to live.  I promise you, your hard work is not a waste of time."  I nod soberly.  "Yes, sir.  I will remember that God is doing something good under the surface.  I won't give up."

"Good girl."  Paul gently pats me on the head and disappears.

See this conversation as it was originally told, in 1 Corinthians 15:42-49, 58.