The start of the parables...Matthew 13:1-23...The Granddaddy of them all

I found this moose shed on an unmaintained trail in the RMNP last week. It made me think of what I need to shed. I snowshoe in the winter but not as much as I hike in the summer so I need to shed a few pounds I also found through the colder months! It has been great to be back on the trails and also explore some that I didn't last year. I am trying to fill in my new trail map for 2025. But it also made me think about other things I need to shed that deal with my spiritual life. Our Sunday passage took us into chapter 13 of the Gospel according to Matthew. The disciples notice right off that Rabbi Jesus is using a different teaching technique. He is telling stories called parables to communicate spiritual truths. To some they will just hear the common story with a " wow " factor in it while others will connect it to a spiritual truth. The " wow " factor of the parable of the sower or the soils is the outcome of the seed that fe...