Prism

And [Jesus] told them many things in parables. – Matthew 13:3a (NRSV) 

The wonderful thing about parables is that they have a surplus of meanings. You can turn them ’round in your heart like a prism, and in the changing light of life’s different seasons, each facet shows you something new.  

Take the parable introduced by the scripture above, the sower and the seed (Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23). Jesus says it’s about things that impede or favor the rooting, growth, and yield of the gospel in our lives. It’s about us, whether we’re thin, brambly, rocky, or good soil. 

That’s a helpful interpretation. But there are times in life when it could come down on you heavy, moralizing, implied judgment.  

Turn the prism. Now it isn’t only about whether your soil is good enough. It’s also about a farmer’s effort to go out of himself, to risk everything, as year after year farmers always do.  

It’s about the ancient hope that compels him to sow, the urgency of sowing at just the right time, and waiting for growth that is, by the nature of things, always delayed.    

It’s about yields that depend not only on the soil’s quality but first on that risk, the work, the waiting. It’s about the holy service of preparation, and the letting go. 

Turn the prism, and it’s not a hard question about our spiritual condition. It’s a contemplation of hope that steps into the field, wisdom that knows the time, love that takes the risk, labor that expects nothing and maybe something, patience that abides. 

Turn the prism, and the parable isn’t measuring our faithfulness. It’s celebrating God’s, inviting awe and praise.  

Prayer
Let me hear what the Spirit is saying in your stories, Jesus, even if it’s not what you had in mind.

About the Author
Mary Luti is a long time seminary educator and pastor, author of Teresa of Avila’s Way and numerous articles, and founding member of The Daughters of Abraham, a national network of interfaith women’s book groups.