As we have seen, the first three chapters of Mark go at a rapid pace.  In them, we meet this person Jesus, who at times draws attention to himself and his message, and at other times tells people not to say a word about what they have seen.  

On the one hand Jesus seems to be claiming some kind of messiah status, in what he says – for example claiming authority over sin (2:10) and over the Sabbath (2:28); and in what he does – healing and casting out demons.  On the other hand he wants to stay ‘under cover’ (1:34, 44 & 3:12).

The way the parable of the sower is presented in chapter 4 almost mirrors this paradoxical picture of Jesus that Mark has already painted.  It seems that Jesus is intent on revealing himself and yet hiding himself all at the same time.  The phrase ‘Open Secret’ is not original, but it seems to fit with what is happening here.

It is as if Jesus is aware that his message will be need to be an ‘open secret.’  

Robert Capon (In the Parables of the Kingdom) puts it something like this. (I paraphrase)

Jesus knows that he has a special mission from God.  He also knows that what he will say and do will upset some people, especially the religious leaders.  (He will mix with outcasts, he heals on the Sabbath, he claims to forgive sin).  So he tries to keep a low profile and stay out of the public eye as far as possible.  Now in chapter 4, we reach a major turning point in the Gospel as Jesus starts to teach.  It’s as if he makes a conscious decision to be provocative and cryptic in his method.   He knows that there will be things about him and his message that will go against people’s expectations of a messiah.  He is not going to be the kind of messiah that people expect, or even want.  So, when he comes to tell the parables, it’s as if he takes this hidden, mysterious, upside down approach and makes it central.

Here are the verses that follow immediately after the parable:

When he was alone, those who were around him along with the twelve asked him about the parables. And he said to them, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside, everything comes in parables; in order that ‘they may indeed look, but not perceive, and may indeed listen, but not understand; so that they may not turn again and be forgiven.’”

Jesus is not pronouncing judgment on unbelievers, but saying “This is how it is”.  The kingdom of God is not what you think it is.  There will be people who will simply not get it.

In an earlier post, I wrote about a woman who had met her daughter’s killer as part of a restorative justice programme.  When the mediator who was arranging the meeting first went into the prison to meet Gary (the killer), the prison governor did not understand what the mediator was talking about.  His mind was so locked into justice as  retribution that he could not get his head around what they were trying to do in meeting Gary.

And yet, when Linda met her daughter’s killer something amazing happened.  Over a period of four hours they talked, and at the end Linda embraced Gary in a hug. In that encounter they both changed.   Some of Linda’s family cannot watch that film.  They have heard her talk about what happened, but they don’t understand.  They have seen the difference in her, but they do not ‘see’ it for themselves.  They have not reached a turning point in their own lives.  For them, there is still no forgiveness.

I have a lot of reading to do, following up on my time at the Summer Peacebuilding Institute, but I’ve just got stuck into a new novel, and I know I’m going to find it hard to put that down to read the textbooks that I have brought back with me.  I had ordered it just before I left for the States, and as I start to read it, I’m struck by how much it fits with what I have been learning, centred as it is around one of the most traumatic events in recent years in the US.

I’m back in England and glad to be home after 4 and a half weeks in the US and 3 weeks away from family.  It was my fourth time in America, and it was great to experience again what is in many ways such a fantastic country. However, this time, I come back with more appreciation of England than I remember from previous visits. (Maybe it’s advancing age)!

I was a guest at the house of Gerald and Sara Shenk on Sunday. They are part of the leadership of a relatively small Mennonite Church that started in 2007 here on the university campus at Harrisonburg. They call themselves ‘The Table’, and are centred around hospitality and community.  When the church was in its early days, they decided that they wanted to practise hospitality in two particular ways: a weekly celebration of communion, and a weekly shared meal.  (This is very different to the usual Mennonite practice of celebrating communion just twice a year, at Easter and in the autumn).  

Since a weekly celebration of communion has always been a part of my practice, I was keen to experience this in a Mennonite setting, so I walked the short distance from my dorm to the beautiful setting of the church, a small building on a hill overlooking the campus, with views over the Shenandoah valley to the distant mountains.  The service reminded me a little of childhood experiences of worship, centred around singing, scripture readings, silence, and reflections from different members of the church. It felt good to be there.  

After the service we walked to the home of Gerald and Sara Shenk for a delicious lunch of chicken casserole and rice. (Gerald had been my teacher in the first week here, and Sara also teaches at the university).  It was at the meal that I learned some interesting things about Harrisonburg and chickens. Harrisonburg is something of a ‘chicken capital’ in this part of the world.  Although the population today is only 45,000, Harrisonburg received the title of ‘city’ early in the 20th century,  and like many towns this size it has universities and is an important business and commercial centre for this part of the Shenandoah Valley.  Chickens are reared intensively and processed all around the area, which has led to an influx of workers, notably from Mexico and Central America.  Probably as a direct result of this, English is taught as a second language to more children in Harrisonburg schools than in the outlying districts of Washington D.C. (Washington is a very multi ethnic city)

This enterprise contributes to the economic growth that Harrisonburg has experienced even during the recession, but there are some rumblings of discontent.  The chicken industry rears just one breed of chicken on the grounds that it is easier to prevent disease if you only have one breed.  In fact the city has passed a law that no one is allowed to keep chickens within the town itself, for fear that people will rear other breeds which may pass on diseases to the intensively farmed chickens.   At least one person, keeping a variety of breeds within the city limits, has had his chickens taken away.  One of the things that interested me about this debate was that it seems to be centred around the issue of freedom to rear chickens as you wish, rather than on the animal welfare issues for the intensively farmed birds.

One young couple sitting round the table – Ryan and Janey – are just starting to rear chickens, and had some questions, which resulted in the following discussion: The chicken coop should be moved regularly, every two or three days, to ensure that the grass in the back yard is not permanently killed by the chicken poop.  There was the added problem of flies.  When the coop has been moved, flies gather around the remaining pungent chicken poop, and the smell gets a bit rich.  There was some discussion as to what might help deal with this awful smell.  Ryan had been especially concerned to know the answer to this question after their next door neighbour had commented on the smell, and asked if something might be done.  After some research, Ryan was advised to put some lime on the offending poop.  So far this seems to be working.

Kirk offered the fascinating information that chickens love to eat maggots, and will eat them in preference to grass.  So one way of preserving the grass is to provide some maggots!   Kirk had a friend who offered this tested method: get a 5 gallon plastic drum.  Drill holes in it, especially all around the bottom.  Put a dead groundhog, skunk, or possum into the drum.  The flies will come, feed on the groundhog, lay their eggs which after three days will have developed to maggots.  The chickens can feed on this rich feast of maggots through the holes in the bottom of the drum.

Another tip was to use the chickens as a means of pest control.  Their preference for maggots and other bugs makes them a very effective substitute instead of chemical means of control.  let the chickens loose in the garden, and they will eat up the bugs.  And because chickens prefer bugs to greenstuff,  they will eat the bugs before they start in on your carefully tended veg in the garden!  However, timing is an issue.  Leave them loose in the garden for more than a couple of days, and you will soon see them tucking into your precious lettuce etc.

And finally.  Winter rye makes a good crop apparently for chicken feed.  Towards the end of the season, plant some winter rye, and when it gets to  about 4/5 inches, give the chickens a run in the garden as they feed on this winter banquet!  P.S.  This last gem applies to the climate here -I don’t know if winter rye grows in all climates.

As I have mentioned several times, there are many nationalities here at the Summer Peacebuilding Institute.  It struck me at some point how we were relating to one another – simply as human beings, and not on the basis of nationality or religion.  That may seem a pretty obvious thing to do, but it’s surprising how often we relate to others on the basis of difference, rather than on what unites us, that is, our common humanity.

Today I started the second of the two courses I am taking here in Harrisonburg.  Strategies for Trauma Healing and Resilience …. It’s an intense course from 8.30 am – 5 pm, which doesn’t leave a lot of time for Blogging or looking at Mark’s Gospel.  So forgive me if the entries are a bit sparse for the next few days.