Ephraim was a trained heifer that loved to thresh, and I spared her fair neck; but I will make Ephraim break the ground; Judah must plough; Jacob must harrow for himself. 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: 11-12)

Illusion is fallow. Delusion is is a dead-end. The unreal is infertile. Only what is real is truly creative, productive, and fulfilling. The rest is fantasy.

We must break through our illusions. We must plow up our delusions. It is time to seek the Lord. It is in the deep, dark, rich soil of relationship with God that we become real.

In this soil we are to sow for ourselves righteousness - tsadaqah - deep purpose, right conduct, and true identity. We are to plant ourselves, ground ourselves, in the moist earthy fecundity of the Creator.

In relationship with God we are fulfilled. In God we find ourselves. With God we are made whole. As the seed responds to the sun, soil, and rain so we each grow and blossom.

Unless we break the hard ground of our illusions, we are like a seed that sits drying and windblown on a dusty plain. We must plow and harrow if we hope to harvest.