Jesus' story about a farmer going out sowing seed seems quite clear and easy to grasp. Yet, His closest disciples had to ask Him what it meant, and in His explanation He seems to suggest that 'outsiders' won't be able to grasp its meaning: they would look but not perceive, hear and not understand. Maybe we also need to ask the Lord to explain to us, to translate His parable from the agricultural image He used to something more suited to our 21st century environment. In prayer today may we talk with Him about it, and ask Him to show us His meaning. Ask that His word sown in us may be abundantly fruitful. Pray that we do our part to have the ground of our lives ready for the sowing, with rocks, weeds and thorns cleared away.

Yet, let's not be too fearful or negative. Although Jesus is reported as saying "some" seed feel on the pathway, "some" on rocky ground, "some" among weeds, and "some" on good soil, He must have known that a farmer sowing seed throws it on the good prepared soil of the field. It's only a tiny fraction of seed that accidentally falls on the pathway around the field, the stones and rocky places. The Lord is generous in sowing His word, but how do any of us know how much bears full fruit, or even what the fruit is? The parable isn't maybe quite so obvious as we first thought.