Fallow in the Field

Fallow- def. ~~”plowed and harrowed in the field, but left unsown for a period of time to restore the soil’s fertility.”

When my son finished college, he did nothing for three months. He began his career by lying fallow. He did not have a job waiting for him when he graduated and he wasn’t sure what his next move would be. He knew he didn’t want to move home, so he stayed in our apartment, out of town and manifested his future.

He had majored in Electronic Media and he knew he wanted to segue that into a job in the movie industry. Texas is filled with movie production companies. One city, in particular, built a new airport and turned the old airplane hangers, at the old airport, into sound stages.

He didn’t know how to break into the movie industry but he did know the movie industry was brimming with activity where he was situated. So, he began to formulate his career in his mind. As an athlete does before a race, he began to see each successive move and success in his career before he ever began.

He answered the call for someone fluid in French to translate part of a film for a very highly regarded movie Director. Many had never met this director and he has only been interviewed once. Most don’t even know what he looks like, but he has won an Academy Award for his movie making. So, my son began his first job in the movie industry interpreting French for a film that was in post production. Do you think he had any idea when he took all those classes in college that French would get him his first job? No, because it laid fallow all those years in preparation for his break out role.

So it began. For the rest of his life this job will be the first job listed on his resume. Those who see his resume are immediately amazed that he worked for such a prominent and reclusive Director. He laid fallow for 3 months before he landed that job. He spent hours and hours manifesting the right time and the right moment to break forth.

Just as when the grain has been pulled from the soil each year and brought into the store house, the land will lay fallow for a season. It does not toil or spin. It does not earn it way. It waits patiently, hoping it will produce fruit in the following season. It imagines itself as tall and mature and full of blessings.

I am always so discouraged by the busyness I see in the world today. We are so often caught up in our To Do Lists, we miss out because we are so focused on completing every single thing we have managed to cram into our days. Why is it so many of us have come to live our lives from one surmounting obstacle to the next? When did being productive meant never ending our efforts and being more and more and more productive, in an endless effort to produce more? Why has more become better?

The answer for my life is to lie fallow; as when the fields lay barren, once harvesting is complete, and the rows are, at last, laid to rest. It is an end to the previous growing season. How does one pause the restless mind which is steadily fed an appetite of need? Why do we heed the call to be in a hurry to get to the next event, chore and duty? Why do we feel the push for endless productivity? We cannot abide the continually woeful burden of constant action and attention. Rest is essential. Fallowness is crucial for the success of the following season. Our mind needs to pause in contemplation in order to generate new thought and new vision. Does the pot boil when stirred? Of course not!

Consider this…

Let the mind lie fallow so it’s nature may uncover it’s hidden bounty. Let the spirit and the soul cease, for a season, from its labor. It is the deliberate extinguishing of busyness. It is not sin, nor is it evil. It is not idle, nor is it lazy. It is allowing the Spirit to speak in whispers. For a Call is not heard in a storm. It is boredom that gives birth to creativity. It is as necessary to lie fallow, as it is to fuel our labor.

One must not turn the soil of human thought while it rests. One cannot speed it’s recovery through busyness, worry or fret. Watching the grass grow does not make it grow taller. Simply abide in One’s completed work. Do not take up the shovel and begin to plant or plow. Lie dormant in the fallowness, not of the grave, but of patience and recuperation. Is not the purpose and reward of the harvest one of peace and plenty? Be satiated with recovery and grateful for it’s benefits.

In due season, uncover the depth of that fallowness, which will, in time, bring maturity to a world yearning to be fed. Be yoked with fallowness so as not to stir that which must age before it is poured upon the earth. Gird the innermost jewels of your hidden spirit, tucked safely from view. Look not to what was lost, but to what may someday be completed.

Breathe deeply the newness of the soil that lies buried in your soul. Let it fill your nostrils. Feed on the nutrients deep within. They will align your thoughts; your ideas, yet unborn. Let them rest, least you disturb their productive slumber. At night we sleep to discard those dreams which are spent; swept lucidly away each evening. Do not push the dreams away, but also do not make an effort to recreate them during daylight. Instead, let those ideas infuse your dreams yet untraveled. In the innermost mindful crevice, let the job of toiling, lie fallow restoring what nutrients the soul has depleted.

The seed while it waits below ground is not anxious. Just as your ideas are embryo’s of thought, so too is the seed of life’s bounty buried deep within you.

While you lie fallow, be conscious of the fact that all around you are whispers of creation building your success. The sun, the air, the rain, the wind, feed the soul in ways that harvesting cannot. So too, the schooling, the test taking, the mundane, the subordinate, the boring, the ignorant, the frustration, monotony and struggle all fuel the evermore promise of your future. Let the strife sleep soundly, while all else toils with anticipation of your destined journey.

In my son’s case, it was his minor in French that was the seed that laid fallow for years before it was put to use. It was his ability to lie quietly and let the blessing of the universe fill him with promise and vision for his future.

He now makes his living in Los Angeles where he has lived for 11 years. He is very, successful! He has made movies and commercials, music video’s and TV shows all because he laid fallow for 3 months before embarking on his career. He began his life’s journey interpreting French and now works with celebrities who are household names. He took the time to listen to his Creator and to notice that He had a plan and a promise. But, God was not in a hurry. His timing was one of secret preparation and trust.

Whatever it is in life you need to prepare for, let the fallow be the fuel that feeds your drive. It can be the re-imagination of your life, in a world on the verge of losing the creativity that brought about Creation.

The fallow fruit lies just below the surface!