The parable of the Sower is deeply familiar and as such can seem tame or exhausted of all new meaning and challenge. And yet when we come to this story in the midst of life when old and valued things seem to be failing or dying, when new seeds of hope look vulnerable, and we fear the harvest to come, we may benefit from looking again at images of the prodigally generous Sower and the abundant crop that may yet flourish. (Seventh Sunday after Pentecost. Proper 10 [15] Matthew