Synopsis: The Parable of the Harvest of the Rich man has many pairs of things which are contrasted: 2 kinds of men, of ground, of rooms, of ways to talk to the soul, of goods, or treasure, of wealth. We look at all of them.
Luke 12:16-21 16 And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: 17 And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? 18 And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. 20 But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? 21 So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.
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Father, Bless,
Thank you for inspiring a lot of thought…never before in reading this story had I noticed that the rich man had mistaken his body for his soul. Since our bodies, minds and souls are linked I can see how easy it is to make this mistake. When my body chemistry is just right from having eaten a nice meal, the temperature in my climate controlled house is just right, my bank account tells me that I have nothing to worry about, or I have relationships with others that make me feel good, etc, etc….all these things can make me feel like "God is in His Heaven and all is right with the world…"
Even when things aren't so good—-in dreaming, planning, coveting, grasping, in all the ways I struggle to arrange my world in a certain way according to the desires of my flesh, ego–my will, I am acting as if by obtaining the state of 'feeling good' that somehow everything is as it should be.
It is hard. My mind can convince my body that it feels good or bad. My body can convince my mind that it feels good or bad. And in all these fluctuations, the soul gets lost. Often the only way the soul gets attention is through suffering. It is in those times where mind and body, like Job, have lost everything (or a deep realization has come that we will one day lose it all)….when health, security, prosperity (or the dream and hope of attaining these things) are gone, it is then that we really become aware–in a deep, tangible way, that life is more than food, drink, raiment…comfort, order, relationships….