In the Gospel for the coming Sunday, Matthew Jesus is teaching from a boat to a very large crowd. He is preaching about the Word of God. He goes on to explain it n a parable. Initially the parable looks quite straight forward. The Seed will grow and bear fruit where the soil is thick and rich.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jesus does not leave it there. He takes it up a notch and that when I start to feel uncomfortable. I begin to identify with the incredulous crowds. He makes it very clear that many do not see with the eyes of faith, or hear with a listening ear or understand with a open heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s then that I look within: Is the word of God bearing fruit in my own life? More often than not my seeing, hearing and understanding is personal, privately reassuring and comfortably interesting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jesus concludes the lesson: But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s the challenge. Is the Word of God living in my life? Is it evident in how I listen and what I see and how deeply I understand the hearts of those I live with? As a wise woman once suggested to me, the Word of God is less a message and more an event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Virginia Ryan<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In the Gospel for the coming Sunday, Matthew Jesus is teaching from a boat to a very large crowd. He is preaching about the Word of God. He goes on to explain it n a parable. Initially the parable looks quite straight forward. The Seed will grow and bear fruit where the soil is thick […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":29006,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[38,45,26,44,24,55,8,32,50,41,25,51,34,54,47,31,42,39,48,46,52,40,37,35,28,43,53,36,27,33,29],"class_list":["post-29005","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsletter","tag-ancient-wisdom","tag-contemplative-prayer","tag-enlightenment","tag-guided-meditation","tag-inner-peace","tag-introspection","tag-lectio-divina","tag-lectio-divina-for-beginners","tag-life-transformation","tag-meditation-guide","tag-meditation-mastery","tag-meditation-tips","tag-mindfulness","tag-mindfulness-meditation","tag-mindfulness-practices","tag-mindfulness-techniques","tag-personal-development","tag-reflect-and-transform","tag-reflective-living","tag-sacred-reading","tag-self-discovery","tag-self-help","tag-soulful-journey","tag-soulful-living","tag-spiritual-awakening","tag-spiritual-growth","tag-spiritual-guide","tag-spiritual-insights","tag-spiritual-practice","tag-spiritual-reflection","tag-transformative-journey"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t