During my road trip down to North Carolina this past Sunday my dad
brought up the parable of the sower and the seed; this parable was also the
Gospel reading on Wednesday. I always
take notice if the same idea or reading comes up more than once in a short period
of time. I figure if God is going
through the trouble to keep putting the same thing in front of me than it is
worth my attention. So, here we go!
When the sower sows his seed there are 4 possible outcomes that represent different types of faith lives.
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| clockwise Northwest Nature Notes, David Veuve, Glendale Church of the Brethren, NYC Urban Project |
The first outcome is the seed falling on the path and it is
immediately eaten up by the birds. This
represents a person who hears the word of God but does not understand what they
hear. The truth that they have heard is
then snatched away easily because they do not understand.
The second outcome is the seed falling on rocky soil and
being scorched by the sun due to lack of roots.
This represents a person who hears the word of God and receives it happily. However, their faith is not deeply rooted and
therefore dies at the first sign of trouble.
The third outcome is the seed falling among the thorns,
being choked, and producing nothing. This
represents a person who hears the word but preoccupation with things of the world
choke out their faith.
Finally, the fourth outcome is the seed falling on good
soil. This represents a person who hears
the word of God and truly understands it.
As a result this person bears much fruit in their life (they’re successful).
So, that is the basic run down of this parable. This is the explanation that has been given
to me for years and I have always stored it away safely assuming that I had
fallen on good soil. That is where the common problem of this
parable lies. I think that many of us,
especially cradle Catholics, tend to identify ourselves with the faithful and pious
“good guys” in Jesus’ parables. This is
a dangerous manifestation of our pride and/or complacency.
When we decide that we are the role models in a parable we
become comfortable in our faith. When we
become comfortable in our faith we stop challenging ourselves and stop
learning. I have heard it said that
there is no standing still in faith, only moving forward or backward. I challenge you to really look at all of the
scenarios (path, rocks, thorns, good soil) and really be honest with yourself about
where you are in your faith life.
If I am being honest, I’m still hanging out in the
thorns. I love the LORD and I want to
trust in him but I know that there are times when my worldly worries overshadow
my faith. I know that it is hard to admit
that you aren't the perfect follower of Christ, but as in all things the first
step is admitting you have a problem. I
hope I have encouraged all of you to take a step forward and become uncomfortable
in your faith life!
Which seed do you identify with? Have you always considered yourself the good seed? Has God repeated and idea to you? Comments?
Questions? Suggestions? Drop me a line
in the comments below!
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