Editorial July 5, 1919 Issue

The Kindly Seed

William P. McKenzie

A very interesting exploit to every little child is his first casting a seed into the dark earth and beholding the green blade push forth to glow and rejoice in the sunshine. Him the dictionary does not help in saying that a seed is an embryo sporophyte in the resting stage which may develop by germination. The child finds out and believes that the seed has in it the plant to be, before it is buried in the earth. Paul depicts this wonder of resurrection when he says, "That which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain: but God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body." If anyone loves the things that grow, how easily they can be procured. A seed is but a little thing—how will the requester be denied a little seed; and yet from such a tiny particle can rise the glory of a lovely flower. A disused vessel, some gathered earth, some carefully doled water, and, of course, a place in the sun, and the seed reveals its message. How many stories of the enlightenment of a home are based on the flower that claimed its rights. For it the grimy pane had to be polished so that light could come in, and thus began the cleansing of the window; and when the speck of color glowed in the admitted light the flower's mission continued, inspiring further order and beautifying.

In his parable Jesus spoke of two kinds of seed. He told of the farmer who sowed good seed in his field, but when the laborers were weary and slept the enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and slipped away unseen. This act of the secret foe who came by night was unknown until on the upspringing of the green blades it became soon possible to distinguish the tares or darnel. Mrs. Eddy gives us a clear understanding of the meaning of this parable when she says in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 535): "The seed of Truth and the seed of error, of belief and of understanding,—yea, the seed of Spirit and the seed of matter,—are the wheat and tares which time will separate, the one to be burned, the other to be garnered into heavenly places."

The understanding of Truth brings harmony and peace, inner joy and steadfastness. The injection of mortal beliefs into a man's thought causes disturbance, uncertainty, and doubt, and immediately diminishes his activity in the line of righteousness. The good seed produces always good grain. From the poisonous seed arise weeds not only valueless but actually hurtful, because they choke the wholesome growth as well as occupy the fertile field. One does not blame the field, though he may condemn the husbandman, when he sees the field wasted by weeds; and yet fair dealing may require one to withhold censure, since the operation of the enemy is subtle and his secret act may be intended not only to induce loss and distress for the victim but also to subject him to the condemnation of his friends, so that although suffering he will be deprived of legitimate aid and friendship. Mrs. Eddy describes vividly the sowing of the enemy when she says (Miscellany, p. 211), "Animal magnetism fosters suspicious distrust where honor is due, fear where courage should be strongest, reliance where there should be avoidance, a belief in safety where there is most danger; and these miserable lies, poured constantly into his mind, fret and confuse it, spoiling that individual's disposition, undermining his health, and sealing his doom, unless the cause of the mischief is found out and destroyed. Other minds are made dormant by it, and the victim is in a state of semi-individuality, with a mental haziness, which admits of no intellectual culture or spiritual growth."

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