gospel of Thomas 96

Jesus said, "The kingdom of the father is like a certain woman. She took a little leaven, concealed it in some dough, and made it into large loaves. Let him who has ears hear."

Jesus lived in the Middle East where it is traditional to eat flatbread – unleavened bread – hence this little parable. Leavened bread, bread that has risen, must have been something of a novelty, rather mysterious or magical, at the time. Jesus is comparing us with dough. And concealed within this dough, is a little leaven, a little magical ingredient, that will cause us to rise when the conditions are right.

Of course, if the conditions never become right, we will remain for our whole life nothing more than dough; at best a flatbread, when we could have become a large loaf. We could have become something much more. That is the potential that we have with this human life. We have the potential to rise. The seed is within us. That little leaven has been concealed within us. We might not see it. We might not be aware of it. But it is there. Waiting.

So for our part, we should do whatever we can to make sure that the conditions become right, for that leaven to work its magic. And that's all we can do. Other than that, we merely need some patience. For the rising takes time, and happens at its own pace.

But know all along, from the very outset, that that magical ingredient is within you. That flame that can never be extinguished – it's there at the centre of your being. And when the time is right, you too will rise.