One of the most famous of all Jesus' parables is the one about a farmer going out to sow seed on his land. An ordinary sight, in an agricultural community, at the appropriate season; though maybe unfamiliar to modern-day city-dwellers. Jesus told His hearers to "imagine" the sower and what he's doing, and the consequences a little while later when the seed begins to sprout and then grow and finally become mature. "Imagine", He said. The parable is not just a little story about what a farmer actually does: you know the story already, from your own experience or observation, or because you've been told about it. But Jesus invites us to 'imagine', to use our imagination, fantasy, speculation, wonder, curiosity, to go deeper into the event and find a message, a meaning, an understanding, an appreciation of what's going on and its relevance to me, to my life, to my world. Imagine the scene, put yourself into the picture: can you see how much of the seed falls on the pathway, on stony patches, or among weeds and thorns rather than on the prepared soil? Is the sower perhaps being careless?

Does all this remind me of anything else, in my own life or behaviour? Is there perhaps more than just one meaning? What can I learn from my own observations of ordinary things in life, from my own experience? Talk these things over with the Lord in prayer: "Imagine", and "Listen, anyone who has ears".