Breaking Up the Hardness of Our Hearts

by Ellen Hogarty

There is a scripture in Hosea where it talks about breaking up fallow ground. "Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love; break up your fallow ground; for it is time to seek the Lord, that he may come and rain righteousness upon you." Hosea 10:12

We might read that verse and either not understand what fallow ground is, or not apply it to ourselves.

So what is fallow ground? Fallow ground is an area of land that was previously planted and harvested but is then left unsown. That can be a good and needed thing, giving the land a chance to rest and be rejuvenated. But in this verse, it implies that something has become hardened and needs to be broken up in order for it to be fruitful again.

One of the responsorial psalms we sometimes hear at Mass is from Psalm 95, "If today you hear His voice, harden not your hearts." In all of us, there are hard parts of our hearts — ways that we resist the Lord and His invitations to us. Being a disciple of Jesus requires the breaking up of the hardness in our hearts — on a regular basis. The Lord helps us with this if we give Him permission.

One of the ways those hard, stiffened parts of us get broken up is by embracing those little calls to service or demands on our time that we feel an initial resistance to. When we are asked to do something outside of our comfort zone but that we know we need to do or should do — that could be an example of the Lord giving us an opportunity to break up the hardness of our hearts, the parts of us that like to remain comfortable and unchallenged.

Necessary Phone Calls

To give you an example, I don't really like to make business phone calls. I never have, and it's a task that I put off, if I can, on my list of to-do items. However, in the season of my life when my elderly mom was living with me, I had to make more phone calls than I usually do. There were doctors’ appointments, follow-ups, pharmacy info, banking, etc. I almost always felt an inner resistance when I knew I needed to make some calls.

But then I started picturing those necessary calls as a type of weeding tool that we use in the garden. It's hand-held and used to loosen up a small section of ground so that you can pull the weeds out easier. This tool only works if the ground is not too hard and if you catch the weeds early enough. The extra phone calls were really no big deal and didn't cost me too much effort, but I came to appreciate them as a way to break up some of the hard parts in my heart that creep in without me even being aware. If I cooperated and made the call cheerfully, I noticed that other challenging tasks in my life somehow got easier. It had a spill-over effect.

Fruitful Harvest

When the fallow ground in our hearts is broken up, it can produce an abundant harvest in our lives. And what we harvest are the fruits of the Holy Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (see Galatians 5:22-23).

If you find yourself lacking in any of those fruits (and who of us isn't lacking in at least a few?!), try to envision those bothersome tasks that you need to do as the Lord's tool to break up some of the hardness of your heart. As we try to smile and respond well, we will reap that "steadfast love" that Hosea speaks about and our lives will become more beautifully fruitful with God’s grace.