Teach Us to Care and Not to Care

Devotional Reflection, Thursday, February 29, 2024

The week of the second Sunday in Lent

The Rev. David W. Perkins, Th.D.

Key phrases for reflection from today’s reading:

26 He also said, ‘The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, 27and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. 28The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. 29But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come.’

You will find the full text of today’s Gospel at the end of this reflection.

Daily Office Lectionary Readings (BCP, 953)

AM Psalm [70], 71; PM Psalm 74

Gen. 42:29-38; 1 Cor. 6:12-30; Mark 4:21-34

David’s Reflections

In T. S. Eliot’s poem “Ash Wednesday” you find these lines.

Suffer us not to mock ourselves with falsehood

Teach us to care and not to care

Teach us to sit still

Even among these rocks,

Our peace in His will

And even among these rocks

Sister, mother

And spirit of the river, spirit of the sea

Suffer me not to be separated

   And let my cry come unto Thee.+

“Teach us to care and not to care.” In this intriguing oxymoron I hear something like “teach us to live with an appropriate level of care and concern.” The poet says “Our peace is in His will” and “Let my cry come unto thee.” What would it look like if our lives were driven by enough anxiety to motivate us to live fully but within our limits and by enough faith to enable us not to be “care full,” to lapse into anxious striving? What would our lives look like if we believed the poet that “Our peace is in his will.”? And, what if we kept uttering our cry unto God?

In today’s Gospel, Mark alone preserves the parable of the seed growing on its own in which Jesus describes a farmer who knew how to care and not to care (see verses 26-29).  He did what a farmer must to produce a crop.  But, once he had done the sowing, the sprouting would be up to the seed and the soil and the elements.  Once the wheat had matured, then he could put in the sickle.  The wheat would sprout and grow because he plowed and planted but “he did not know how.”

I can think of so many instances in which I have striven in a self-sufficient way in ministry and in my personal life.  I was “caring” but I had not learned “not to care.”  Problems and needs presented themselves and I had solutions ready-made that could be applied without much waiting or praying or collaborating in community.  Would that time and experience had taught me how to avoid anxious caring.  They have at least taught me to be aware of the tendency and to catch myself in the act on occasion. Would that I had been more convinced that “Our peace is in His will.” And, would that my cry had gone up to God more consistently.

Life sometimes feels like a dance between God’s active and luscious grace and my presence and responsibility.  As Paul put it, “I have been crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live.  Yet, not I but Christ lives in me.”  (Galatians 2:20).  How can we tell where God’s presence and activity leave off and ours begins?  Perhaps making that distinction leaves us with mystery more than with certainty, not unlike the farmer who “did not know how” the seed sprouted and grew.

The larger concern has to do with smothering God’s gracious activity with an anxious striving that moves God to the side.  Perhaps Eliot’s lines should be part of our daily prayer with regard to every challenge and need.  “Teach me to care and not to care. Show me how to engage fully with this challenge or need while trusting that your presence and activity will bring about the desired outcomes.”

+T. S. Eliot, "Ash Wednesday," in The Complete Poems and Plays:  1909-1950,  (New York:  Harcourt, Brace,  and World, 1971), p. 67.

Collect of the Day, The Second Sunday in Lent

O God, whose glory it is always to have mercy: Be gracious to all who have gone astray from your ways, and bring them again with penitent hearts and steadfast faith to embrace and hold fast the unchangeable truth of your Word, Jesus Christ your Son; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.  (BCP, 218)

Collect for Thursday of Week 2 in Lent

O Lord, strong and mighty, Lord of hosts and King of glory: Cleanse our hearts from sin, keep our hands pure, and turn our minds from what is passing away; so that at the last we may stand in your holy place and receive your blessing; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.  (Holy Women, Holy Men, p. 45)

A Collect for Protection

O God, the life of all who live, the light of the faithful, the strength of those who labor, and the repose of the dead: We thank you for the blessings of the day that is past, and humbly ask for your protection through the coming night. Bring us in safety to the morning hours; through him who died and rose again for us, your Son our Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  (BCP, 124)

Thanksgiving For the Beauty of the Earth

We give you thanks, most gracious God, for the beauty of earth and sky and sea; for the richness of mountains, plains, and rivers; for the songs of birds and the loveliness of flowers. We praise you for these good gifts, and pray that we may safeguard them for our posterity. Grant that we may continue to grow in our grateful enjoyment of your abundant creation, to the honor and glory of your Name, now and for ever. Amen.  (BCP, 840)

A Prayer for Light

Grant us, Lord, the lamp of charity which never fails, that it may burn in us and shed its light on those around us, and that by its brightness we may have a vision of that holy City, where dwells the true and never-failing Light, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP, 110)

A Collect for Mission

O God of all the nations of the earth: Remember the multitudes who have been created in your image but have not known the redeeming work of our Savior Jesus Christ; and grant that, by the prayers and labors of your holy Church, they may be brought to know and worship you as you have been revealed in your Son; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (BCP, 257)

Daily Office Gospel, Mark 4:21-34

21 He said to them, ‘Is a lamp brought in to be put under the bushel basket, or under the bed, and not on the lampstand? 22For there is nothing hidden, except to be disclosed; nor is anything secret, except to come to light. 23Let anyone with ears to hear listen!’ 24And he said to them, ‘Pay attention to what you hear; the measure you give will be the measure you get, and still more will be given you. 25For to those who have, more will be given; and from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.’

26 He also said, ‘The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, 27and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. 28The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. 29But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come.’

30 He also said, ‘With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? 31It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; 32yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.’

33 With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it; 34he did not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything in private to his disciples.

Daily Offices in The Book of Common Prayer

Morning Prayer, Rite 2, page 75, The Book of Common Prayer

Noonday Prayer, page 103, Book of Common Prayer

Order of Worship for Evening (Vespers), p 109, Book of Common Prayer

Evening Prayer, Rite 2, page 115, Book of Common Prayer

Compline (Night Prayer), page 127, Book of Common Prayer

Daily Devotionals, page 136, Book of Common Prayer