Judges have very difficult jobs. I know – I’ve seen a lot of them in action over the years. Whether state or federal court judges, at the trial or the appellate level, judges are charged with the task of making the right call. Acting within the bounds of what the law requires and what the evidence supports, jurists reach conclusions that can have life-altering consequences. History has borne witness to the judiciary’s deregulation of industries, the breakup of monopolies, and assuming control of educational and correctional institutions. Our Supreme Court has hastened the exit of one president in Richard Nixon and the entrance of another following the Bush v. Gore decision.

The Parable of the Sower is found in the three Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) in the Bible; as well as in the Gospel of Thomas (Saying 9), part of the Gnostic literature of Coptic origin discovered in Egypt in 1945. The Thomas version is short and inconclusive. The canonical writings are quite a bit more complete and developed in terms of what Jesus said and what he meant by use of his symbolism. For those who want to compare stories, see Matthew 13:1-23, Mark 4:1-20 and Luke 8:1-15. To cut to the chase, however, a sower (one who spreads or plants seeds for growing) scatters a bunch of seeds, which land on all kinds of surfaces. As one might imagine, some of the surfaces work out better than others. Those seeds that fell on the road were trampled or pulverized, and birds swooped down and ate a few. Some of the seeds landed on soil that was either too dry or too thin to nurture growth for long. Even where the soil was okay, thorns choked out some of our little seedlings. Only when the soil was good and in just the right location, where the weather was fair and no thorns were, did seeds sprout and grow into healthy, strong plants that bore much fruit.