Sowing Seeds of Joy

Vincent Van Gogh -- The Sower

 The parable of the Sower is one of the best-known of Jesus' parables. The parable, as found in the Gospel of Matthew reads:

13 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. 2 Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. 3 And he told them many things in parables, saying: “Listen! A sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seeds fell on a path, and the birds came and ate them up. 5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. 6 But when the sun rose, they were scorched, and since they had no root, they withered away. 7 Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8 Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9 If you have ears,hear!”  (Matthew 13:1-9)

As I pondered what to write for today, with Advent continuing its movement towards Christmas, with our journey moving from a focus on peace to one of joy, I thought I might share the above passage along with the painting "The Sower" by Vincent Van Gogh.

Yesterday my family and I paid a visit to the Detroit Institute of Art, which is featuring an exhibit of paintings by Van Gogh. The DIA has the distinction of purchasing for display in 1922 the first Van Gogh painting for display in the United States. That painting is one of his self-portraits. With more than 70 paintings and drawings on display, it is a wonderful exhibit. The guidebook for the exhibit's notes that: "A deeply spiritual person, Van Gogh had an affinity for the subject of the sower as a symbol of regeneration, life, and the spread of Christianity" This is one of thirty paintings on the subject and one of two on display.

I invite you to meditate on this painting and discern with me how we can sow seeds of joy in these trying times!

And as a way of anticipating what the goal is, I share Van Gogh's 1890 painting -- "Sheaves of Wheat" also on display.