Today we have the second part of the parable of the sower where the emphasis is more on the soil which receives the seed than on the seed itself which was central to the first part. In the first part, the message was that God's word will find root and accomplish God's plan. Today the focus is more on those who hear that Word, in whom it is planted. In some, it never gets a chance; it is like seed falling on stony ground. In others it gets a warm welcome but, at the first sign of challenge or difficulty, it withers away. In still others - and this may include most of us - it finds welcome root but it has to co-exist with so many other challenges with which we get entangled that its growth is severely limited and damaged. It is like wheat trying to survive when smothered by surrounding bushes and weeds. We want to welcome God's Word but we also want to have our cake and eat it. Then, finally, there are those who sincerely and wholeheartedly take God's word into their hearts and allow it to transform their lives into people who truly belong to the Reign of God. To which group do I belong? Let me ask God to help me listen to him unconditionally and to go only his Way.