Do you understand?
Or, are you just nodding so we'll move on?
Listen to the article:
"Do you understand?"
I nodded slowly, not sure exactly what else to do. My spouse had spent the last few minutes excitedly describing what she wanted to do to renovate one of our bathrooms. I had tried to listen attentively, but she had lost me shortly after saying, "Here's what I want to do with the bathroom …"
The problem is I can't visualize things that aren't there (a condition called aphantasia). You can point at something and say, "Imagine that wall gone and the tub over there," all you want. All I will see is a wall and the tub where they are now. That's all I will ever see until you physically change the layout and show it to me again.
Truthfully, I had not understood a word she said, but admitting that would mean she would simply repeat everything, and again ask, "Now, do you understand?"
Simply nodding the first time around and adding, "That sounds great, honey!" let me off the hook and saved us both some time. I trusted that whatever she had planned would look fantastic and it was easier to reassure her than to truly understand her.
When I read Matthew 13, where Jesus is telling a myriad of parables comparing the realm of the Holy to a mustard seed, leavened yeast, treasure hidden in a field or such fine pearls that we'll sell all we have to own it, and a net so full of fish we must sort the edible from the inedible, I wonder about those disciples. Were they treating him the way I treat my spouse when Jesus asked them, "Have you understood all this?" Did they, like me, simply nod their assent without really understanding just so Jesus would move on to something they really did get?
I imagine the disciples' heads were spinning at this point. God's realm is like, what? They, like we still do today, wanted to know how Jesus was going to change the world. They wanted to know how Jesus was going to help them get rid of their oppressors. They wanted to know how Jesus was going to bring about a revolution that would change the world as they experienced it. In short, they wanted to know how Jesus would overthrow the worldly government that ruled over them. How could a mustard seed, some yeast, some hidden treasure, pearls, and sorting out the catch of the day accomplish any of this?
Jesus, though, wasn't concerned with revolution against the earthly powers. Replacing one human institution with another human institution (or one illusion with another, as A Course in Miracles would call it), even if the new institution is more benevolent and generous to the least of these than the previous one would not usher in God's realm. Jesus would have understood the sentiment expressed by the 1960's rock band The Who when they sang: "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss."
Instead, Jesus was inviting his disciples, and us, to view the world in a different light - to change our perspective. It's not the big revolutions that change the world. It's the little revolutions within the hearts and minds of every human being in the world that accomplish lasting change. Small things like mustard seeds become imposing bushes. Just a tiny bit of yeast can yield an enormous amount of bread - enough to feed multitudes. The realm of the Holy is of such great value that when we find it, we'll sell all we have to own it. Worldly goods are nothing when compared to the spiritual riches God's realm brings to us and to the world. The Holy helps us sort out our daily catch - tossing the bad things aside that would distract us from working to accomplish God's will in our lives and in the world.
I'm reminded of another parable, one not told by Jesus but by other traditions that tells the story of a woman who had found a precious stone. She put the stone in her bag and went on her way. The next day, a hungry traveler came by her on the road and asked if she had anything to eat. As she rummaged in her bag, the man spied the precious stone she had.
"Instead of food, would you give me that stone?"
Without hesitation, the woman smiled and handed over the stone.
The traveler left feeling elated. He had something better than food. He had something that he could sell and end all of his earthly troubles forever. He hurried off to town to enjoy his newfound riches.
A couple of days passed and again the woman was traveling the same road and ran into the same man. He approached her and handed her the precious stone.
"I had intended to sell this stone and become rich," he told her. "But after I thought about it, I realized that you could give me something even more precious."
"What is that?" asked the woman.
"I want whatever it is you have that made you able to give me that stone," he said.
"Have you understood all this?" Jesus asked his disciples and continues to ask us. Have we understood that God's realm is not about worldly riches, but about the abundant riches of the Spirit? Have we understood that God's realm is about gladly giving away ourselves -- and all we have -- to anyone and everyone who asks it of us? Have we truly understood, as Paul told the Romans, that no earthly power will ever separate us from God's realm?
The disciples said they understood. But, then they, and those who came after them, spent the next few hundred years proving that they didn't really get it. Church fathers spent centuries arguing over Jesus' divinity and humanity, over how or why his death was redemptive, over whether his mother was a virgin and a myriad of other doctrinal arguments instead of paying attention to the mustard seed, the yeast, the hidden treasure, or the pearl of great value that needed to be cultivated in their own hearts. While they argued, people starved.
We show our understanding when we spend less time arguing about who Jesus is and what he means and instead get to work obeying his commandment to love each other and stop pursuing worldly ways to bring about God's realm.
"Have you understood all this?"
Music for the Journey:
“Won’t Get Fooled Again” - The Who
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About the Motley Mystic:
The Motley Mystic is an online community for people who have realized that the truth speaks with many voices. There is no one religion, philosophy, institution, or dogma that captures the whole Truth and nothing but the Truth. No one needs to swear allegiance to one line of thought or belief to discern Truth, because Love is the only thing that’s real. That’s what we explore at the Motley Mystic - all the tools and strategies we need to remove our barriers to Love and live fully as our true Divine Self.
Candace Chellew is the founder of Motley Mystic as well as Jubilee! Circle, an interfaith spiritual community in Columbia, S.C. She is also the author of Bulletproof Faith: A Spiritual Survival Guide for Gay and Lesbian Christians published in 2008 by Jossey-Bass and the founder and senior editor emeritus of Whosoever: An Online Magazine for LGBTQ People of Faith. She is also a musician and avid animal lover.