Experiencing God - Natural Law of Growth 23

"Nothing lives but that something dies.  And conversely, nothing dies but that something lives.
George Maloney - Alone With The Alone

In his book, "Alone With The Along", Fr. George Maloney speaks about the basic law of growth that applies to all human development:  "Nothing lives but that something dies."

This natural law of human development is reflected in the book of Exodus of the Old Testament.  The people of Israel are dying of starvation in the desert, and they are beginning to complain to Moses.  God hears their cry, and instructs the people to prepare themselves - how?  By holding themselves in readiness for the happening of a certain event.  God promised to provide meat by way of quails in the evening, and bread by way of manna in the morning.  In the evening, the quails flew in and covered their camp, and the people had plenty of meat to eat.  In the same manner, manna congealed like due on the grass in the early morning hours. 

Nothing lives but that something dies. 

In the Gospel of Matthew, we are familiar with the Parable of Sower.  We have the generous sower scattering seeds everywhere.  Some fell on the edge of the path which the birds ate.  Some fell on rock but died from lack of soil.  Some fell among thorns where they chocked out by the thick growth.  But other seeds fell on rich soil where they sprouted and produced a hundred fold. 

In both stories from the Old and New Testament, God is the generous provider, and the people are the recipients, but only when they are properly prepared to receive the bounty that comes from God.  Even in that respect, nothing new lives unless something dies.

In preparing ourselves to receive God's abundance, we have to let go (or let die) those things that are obstacles to receiving the New Life that comes from God.

In our Catholic Christian faith tradition, this preparation is done through the Sacraments, those encounters with Christ that draw us into a relationship with Him.  Eucharist becomes the manna given to us, as the Israelites in the desert, to give life, to sustain our growth, causing us to grow in Christ's likeness.  Yet even with Eucharist which gives us life comes to us at the cost of death; Jesus' own death on the cross.

The question we can ask ourselves is:  What are we letting go of (letting die) in our lives in order to prepare ourselves for the New Life that comes from God's abundance?  Are there things that we cling too that may be preventing God's abundance from breaking through?  Do we see that dying, in all its different meanings, is not necessarily a loss of something that we have to fight for and preserve at all costs, but are often passageways to a more abundant and fruitful life with God.

There is a basic law of growth that applies to all human development: "Nothing lives but that something dies"