Good and Evil
Jesus put before the crowd another parable: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well. And the slaves of the householder came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?’ He answered, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The slaves said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ But he replied, ‘No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.’”
Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples approached him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.” He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man; the field is the world, and the good seed are the children of the kingdom; the weeds are the children of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. Just as the weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, and they will throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Let anyone with ears listen!”
Matthew 13:24-30,
36-43
Parable
of the Wheat and the Tares
BLOEMAERT,
Abraham
1624
Walters
Art Museum
Baltimore,
Maryland
United
States
In this parable from the
Gospel of Matthew, the devil, identified by his horns and tail, sows weeds (or
tares) in the field where wheat has been planted, while the lazy peasants are
sleeping. Christians considered sloth one of the Seven Deadly Sins to which
mankind was subject as a result of the Original Sin of Adam and Eve, to whom
the two naked sleepers allude. The dovecote (a birdhouse to attract doves or
pigeons that can be trapped for food without the bother of raising them) was
associated with the morally lazy who take the easy way. The goat, known for its
lust, alludes to self-indulgence, and the peacock, to pride. Bloemaert was
gifted in depicting natural detail, but he never painted pure landscapes,
preferring pictures with a lesson. He was one of the leading artists of Utrecht
and trained many major artists of the next generation.*
The battleline between good and evil
runs through the heart of every man.
~
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
I see the triumph of good over evil
as a manifestation of the
error-correcting process of
evolution.
~
Jonas Salk
IT’S
ONLY A GAME
by
Bill Bond
1992
Hyland
Hills Golf Course
Westminster,
Colorado
On
the very first tee at Hyland Hills, we started losing balls.
It’s
amazing how intimidating water can be.
Beautiful
views … once we got out of the trees and away from the water.
Carolyn
Alexander with Van Farnsworth
Van
led our book discussion at her gorgeous log home on Thursday.
Our
Souls at Night
by
Kent Haruf
Theresa
and Rob live across the street from Vicki and, along with Charles Rose,
had
a neighborhood barbecue Thursday evening to which I was invited.
Ashley
and Alena (Ashley’s granddaughter) with Charles Rose.
Ashley
is the contact person for Priority Restoration,
the
company who is replacing Vicki’s hail-damaged roof.
Everyone
on the block is having their roofs replaced.
Jim
Hill was at Rotary with his bride, Jeanne Kersting!
Whatever else the future holds for us,
it should never paralyze us with its anxieties
or distract us from
our tasks of faithful service.
~
Jill Duffield
July 23, 2017 Seventh
Sunday after Pentecost; Proper 11
* I’m
not sure that I agree with all of Bloemaert’s interpretations of this
parable, but it is still interesting.
Agnus Day, by James Wetzstein
Agnus Day appears with the permission
of www.agnusday.org
Genesis 28:10-19a with Psalm 139:1-12, 23-24 or
Wisdom of Solomon 12:13, 16-19 or
Isaiah 44:6-8 with Psalm 86:11-17
Romans 8:12-25
Matthew
13:24-30, 36-43