Gentle reader, I refer you to Part I for the context and the Parable. I concluded Part I with a question: ‘What are some of the seeds that the sowers sow?’
The seeds that I internally sow are the seeds from the internal plants that I have already grown to fruition. These seeds are provided to me via my internal voices – the voices of my inner life-guide, the voices of my inner teacher, the voices of my inner ‘angel’ and of my inner ‘demon,’ the voices of my inner parent and inner child, the voices of my conscience, etc.
Other seeds are provided to me by the voices and behaviors of those whom I meet as I travel along my life’s path. My parents, my teachers, my siblings, my friends, folks I consider to be authority figures in my life, folks I admire and seek to emulate, etc.
Still other seeds are sown by God’s Spirit – for some this is the Holy Spirit, for others it is the animating spirit that permeates and sustains all life. The voice of the Spirit comes to me in whispers, a soft breeze if you will. I have to be open to hearing this soft whispering voice.
All of these voices are sowing seeds. They fall onto the ground that I have prepared. Some of my internal ground is uncultivated, it is full of rocks which hinder the seeds from taking root. Some of the ground was at one time prepared but I have ignored it for years and so it is dry and hard – this ground does have a few cracks in it and so some of the seeds do fall into the cracks and struggle to take root; they lack the nurturing they need and so they soon die.
Some of the seeds fall upon ground that I have cultivated and for a time I nurtured; however I have not been attending to this ground for some time and weeds have taken root there. The seeds that fall onto this ground find enough nurturance and sustenance in order to take root and begin to grow. However, their roots are not strong enough to fend off the stronger weeds who have deep tap roots. Eventually the weeds strangle the new roots.
Then some of the seeds fall upon the ground that I have cultivated, ground I continue to cultivate and watch over. These seeds are able to grow and deep tap roots emerge. Eventually, strong plants emerge and they carry the seeds that I then re-plant internally and that I then sow in my world.
There are many seed-voices that come to me. I have to choose which of these seed-voices to listen to. Which of them to embrace and integrate. I am the rocks, I am the dry, arid and cracked soil, I am the weeds, and I am the healthy soil. I prepare or choose not to prepare my inner landscape so that the many seed-voices that come to me find a place to grow or because I have not prepared the soil they are not nurtured into life.
A paradox is that I will cultivate my inner landscape so that both ‘good seeds’ and ‘evil seeds’ will take root, so that seeds of virtue and seeds of vice will take root, and so that seeds of light and seeds of darkness will take root. Some ‘good seeds’ will fall on the rocks and some ‘evil seeds’ will fall on well-cultivated land and take root.
As the gardener of my own garden, as the sower of many of my own seeds, I am unconditionally response-able and responsible for all of the seeds that are offered to me. I choose which seed-voices to listen to, which to heed, which to integrate into the garden that is myself. I am also response-able and responsible as to which seeds I choose to pass on to others.
Searcher-Seeker 
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