Sunday March 23: The Parable of the Sower - Luke 8:1-15

http://fineartamerica.com/featured/the-parable-of-the-sower-miki-de-goodaboom.html

The story of the "sower" we find in St. Luke's Gospel is direct and to the point; descriptive language found in Mark and Matthew's versions of the story is stripped away.  A sower goes out to sow seed, some seed falls on the path and is trampled upon, some falls on the rock and withers, some falls among thorns and is choked, and some falls on good soil and grows.

Later, in verse 11, Jesus explains to his disciples that the "seed" is the "word of God"; in Greek, "word" is logos.  In their excellent Lenten resource the brothers of the Society of St. John the Evangelist (SSJE) explain that logos has a "much broader definition than our English "word."  It means a dynamic energy, the animating force.  What becomes clear, as we come to know and understand Jesus . . . is that the energy and force of God is love.  Love is God active in the world:  Love is God made flesh and dwelling among us." from ssje.org/lovelife_folder/LoveLife_Workbook_Web.pdf, page 5.

Continuing to play with Zentner-Barrett's suggestion, in last Sunday's post, what happens if we substitute the word love for seed?  God goes out to sow the dynamic energy of love; some of that enlivening love is trampled upon, some withers, some is choked, but some takes hold and grows and grows!  Again and again God comes to us to plant extravagant love in our hearts and in the world.  Again and again we are invited to share God's extravagant love with the world and yes, sometimes it will get trampled upon, or wither, or be choked out; can we trust that sometimes it will grow?

- Marilyn Malton