Source of Sorry Ground

 
As when the Devil sows his tares in wheat,  [i]
have you considered yet another cause  
for words of Christ we often understand  
as sin of chosen will?  
A different reason why?  
The sower sows the seed which falls on various soils…. [ii]
Some count our own the faults  
of hardened path or rocky ground  
or choking thorns, and reform then for fertility.  
But have you guessed that others find   
ground’s preparation   
beyond their own attempt?  
 
Who was it, beat and tramped upon the path   
so dense that seed by evil birds was flown away?  
Who wore bare the rock to shallows   
where sprouts of joy will wither in the sun?  
Who encouraged thorns and briars   
to stifle mind and heart?  
 
We blame our willful wishes, but – what if –   
some Other laid the ground for seed’s rejection?   
Whether we know ourselves, or weakly sense our brother,   
we should learn that,   
although we may be the Garden,   
not all resistance is our own mis-make   
The Devil may again be beating, burning,    
scraping, planting, twisting    
his deceits   [iii]
till Love, for us  –  sometimes  –  [iv]
seems near impossible  
and beyond seed’s grace   
 
(2010s)     
 

[i]    Matthew 13:24–25,  Jesus  –
 “He proposed another parable to them. ‘The kingdom of heaven may be likened to a man who sowed good seed in his field.  While everyone was asleep his enemy came and sowed weeds all through the wheat, and then went off.’  ”

[ii]   Matthew  13:3-9,   Jesus  – 
“And he spoke to them at length in parables, saying: ‘A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil. It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep, and when the sun rose it was scorched, and it withered for lack of roots. Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it. But some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit, a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold. Whoever has ears ought to hear.’  ”  

[iii]   Psalm 10:10-11  – 
 “The helpless are crushed, laid low; they fall into the power of the wicked,  who say in their hearts, ‘God has forgotten, shows no concern, never bothers to look.’  ” 

[iv]   Matthew 19:26  –  “Jesus looked at them and said, ‘For human beings this is impossible, but for God all things are possible.’  ”