Wheat from the Chaff...

Chaff:
–noun

1. the husks of grains and grasses that are separated during threshing.
2. straw cut up for fodder.
3. worthless matter; refuse.

Growing wheat on a small scale is a labor intensive process that can make one appreciative of the inexpensive five pound sacks of delicious silky flour that can purchased in a grocery store. Putting aside the topics of planting seasons, weeds, soil conditions, and the birds / rodents that consume the seed in mass quantities before it has a chance to germinate... harvesting by hand is an endeavor that stands above them all.

Each wheat stalk produces a spike with rows of wheat seeds / berries. The wheat berries are covered with a thin husk and are firmly attached to the stalk. One method of separating the wheat berries from the spike and stalk is to literally beat and thresh them off. Various tools, sticks, and containers can be used... but each involves pummeling the wheat so that the chaff is detached. The process is vigorous and requires some effort to accomplish.

What remains is the desired edible wheat seed intermingled with the fragmented husks and straw. The chaff is easily separated by even a light breeze as the wheat is poured from one vessel to another. The heavy dense wheat is collected and refined while the undesirable chaff is blown away.

This post is somewhat of a follow up to Monday's post on being prepared. If you are not prepared to accept persecution, or prepared to move with the Will of God, your soul is at risk for being blown away like the chaff. We are all given the same directives; there is no protection if none is sought. One only has to look around to see the chaff being separated... sometimes in scandalizing ways.

Pray for the Church, our Holy Father, the bishops, and priests. Pray for your fellow man. Prayers and fasting. The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.