"Little Samantha Seed always had the feeling that there was more to life than hanging out in the Grain Silo.  To be a seed was not to be endowed with a whole lot to look forward to, but some did speak of great concepts such as soil, sunshine, spring, summer and even the Sower.  There were, of course, those who denied the existence of the Sower.  It was generally agreed though that the evolutionary process would result at some time in life in a ‘coming of age’ when they would all have to leave the silo and live out their lives in the soil.

 

Samantha Seed dared to believe that she wasn't just born to die in the soil.  That out of her life could come great things.  She wasn't exactly sure why she had been born.  She wasn't exactly sure what life may have in store for her.  She wasn't even sure anything good could come out of her life.  Yet she insisted on believing that somehow, with the sower’s help and the nurture of the sunshine, her life in the silo and the soil would result in great things.

 

Sure enough the time came when it was time to graduate from the silo to the soil.  Whilst in that grain silo she had soaked up many influences.  Some mocked her belief in the sower and said that it was just a natural process that led them out into the soil, and to attribute such a thing to any guiding hand was naive optimism.  Some even denied that soil was a fit place to grow.  But she dared to believe that she wasn't just born to die in the soil.

 

It all seemed like a blur.  One day they were in the comforting womb of the silo.  The next day there they were being thrown out into the world and having to make a life for themselves.  Maybe there would be 4th of July Grain Silo reunion weekends, maybe they would keep in touch, maybe some of them would get rich and build silos of their own, maybe some would save the world!  No, get real, this was seeds we are talking about.  Life for seeds was silo, soil, then so long.  Yet, Samantha dared to believe that she wasn't just born to die in the soil.

 

She had many friends in the silo.  Her friend Arthur, (some suggested he was so named because he only had half the intelligence of other seeds), spoke of how he was going to make a name for himself by getting out of the soil and into new things that he described as  the path.  He was solid in his conviction that the only way to make something of himself was to rebuke and dismiss all that soil and sower nonsense and stand up for himself.  He was a self made seed with himself in mind. 

 

After graduation from the silo he did indeed travel a path of his own choosing.  Samantha's conviction that the Sower and the sunshine could make good things come out of the soil went over his head.  "Don't restrict my life with that mumbo-jumbo," he once told her.  "I'm free, to be what I want, to do what I want."

 

What Arthur tragically underestimated were the forces of evil out there.  He thought he was strong enough to resist all the dark things that come swooping down.  One moment he was there, arrogantly shaking a fist at the soil and the Sower from a more enlightened position of the particular path he had chosen.  The next, dark forces from out of beyond consumed him, gobbled him up, took him away... and he was no more.

 

Samantha's friend, Annie, wasn't quite as extreme in her views as Arthur.  She liked the comfort of the silo.  She enjoyed the richness of the soil.  But she was aware that there were other things out there in the soil than just the earth.  There were stones.  Sometimes she claimed to share Samantha's belief that she wasn't just born to die in the soil.  Yet so often her actions betrayed her words.

 

As her roots began to grow (a process that happened to all seeds as they grew) it was obvious to most people (except maybe Annie herself) that some of the things she was rooting herself in would not hold her fast when the storms came.  Out in the field of life there were two experiences that affected everything on the earth.... sunshine and storm. 

 

Sunshine came along every day with varied amounts of concentration.  Sunshine was a good, nurturing, growth producing experience.  Storms came less frequently but often with greater intensity.  It was attributed to the teaching of the Sower that in order to survive the storms you had to make the most of the sunshine, stay rooted in the soil, and avoid attachment to the stones.

 

Annie attached herself too much to the stones.  When the storms came, Annie couldn't stand it.  She never understood that there was a difference between being free and being rootless; that there was a difference between following and drifting.  Poor Annie. When the storms came, that was the end of Annie.

 

Then there was Graham.  Graham did well in the Silo.  He did well in the soil.  Graham’s problem was simply that whilst he sincerely believed along with Samantha that he wasn't just born to die in the soil, he was never satisfied with what he had.  Graham always wanted something more.  In many ways he was a worrier.  He always worried that by just nurturing himself with belief in the sower and the warmth of the sunshine that there were big things in life he was missing out on.

 

He wanted all the soil could give him but so much more.  In trying to gain that ‘so much more’, he lost his soul.  Graham worried that maybe the Sower couldn't deliver what He was said to have promised.  It was all very well telling seeds to put down their roots, enjoy the sunshine, and believe that one day they would produce great things out of their lives, but he could not whole heartedly commit to that.

 

He knew that out there beyond the soil, there were things he never dreamed of.  Tragically he never discovered the difference between weeds and flowers.  In his life he made friends not only with things of beauty, but things that would destroy.  When springing-time came along, the time that he was meant to shine in all his glory, the weeds he had welcomed into his soul strangled the life out of him.

 

Did I neglect to mention ‘springing time’?  Only Samantha and Graham even made it through life to ‘springing time’.  Spring time was just about the most exciting time in a seeds life.  A great transformation came over them.  They had gone out of the silo and into the soil.  They had put down their roots and were nurtured by the sunshine.  Then as spring time came around they came out for all the world to see.

 

Samantha was right.  Her destiny was not just to be born in the soil and die.  The Sower had a purpose for her existence.  Life was not some bizarre accident.  It had been so hard for her at times to believe.  Like Arthur, she had many times contemplated taking a different path.  Like Annie, she had been tempted to root herself in many different things.  Like Graham, she had been worried that her beliefs may turn out to be empty and shallow.  Yet she had gently but steadfastly resisted the temptation to embrace those things that one day could cause her to choke.

 

When summertime came, Samantha along with many others held her head high, rocked to and fro in the cooling breeze, and enjoyed the kiss of the sunlight and the proud smile of the Sower.  Within her being she cherished the thought that out of her life would come fresh seeds... maybe tenfold, maybe twenty fold, maybe a hundred fold.  The possibilities were awe inspiring!  Little Samantha Seed had been right to believe that she wasn't just born to die in the soil.  Life held so much more. Maybe, she mused, all the world could learn something by seeing things from the seeds’ perspectives."

 

And so ends our seed story!

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When Jesus told the parable of the sower, He was addressing people who had their doubts about the reality of the things of the Kingdom.  It is no different today.  The nearness of the things of this world blinds us and deafens us to the message that ultimately God's will and God's way will be victorious over all other things.  The parable tells us that there will be a final harvest of monumental proportions.

 

In the light of what is to come, we are asked to make a choice.  Choose who you will believe.  Choose to listen or reject the Word of God.  Choose to root your life in the passing things of this material world or the eternal realities of the Eternal Word.  Choose to spend your days worrying, or embrace the living way of loving service that Jesus spreads before us; the pursuit of which he promises will not be easy but will bring great joy and fulfillment to our lives.

 

Samantha Seed dared to believe that she wasn't just born to die in the soil.  Sadly there are too many whose belief amounts to a lot less than that of Samantha Seed.  They either have not understood or do not wish to hear the Call of Christ to live a life of commitment and threaten to steal away our souls.  A day of harvest is coming.

 

Let us be ready.

 

Rev. Adrian J. Pratt