A preacher goes out to preach and a teacher goes out to teach.
A sower goes out to sow and a farmer goes out to plow.
We are often defined by what we do and accomplish, by what we make and create, by what we build and found. A poet looks deep into people’s hearts and writes about the inherent goodness in there and captures this in his poems. A philosopher discerns the truth and life and leaves behind his writings to share these truths with others. A painter looks at a scene and sees behind the squalor to capture the beauty in people’s humanity. We are meant to be makers and creators, more than takers and consumers.
Yet, life today is driven by so much materialism and consumerism. We are moved by various means to consume more and to take more for ourselves. How many clothes does a man really need? And yet, there is always something or someone telling us to get another new shirt or the latest design in coats or just another fancy pair of jeans. How much food does a man really need? And yet, we must try that lavish meal at this expensive bistro or taste this delicacy that has been prepared using force-fed fowls or have a bite of this fancy-schmancy dessert.
We will be remembered not by what we have used up or consumed or possessed in our lifetime. We will be remembered by what we shall have left behind, by what we have created and by what we have shared of ourselves. We are not sheep being fed for the slaughter. We are the shepherds tasked with taking care of the flock.
I will sing of your salvation, O Lord.
On that day, Jesus went out of the house and sat down by the sea.
Such large crowds gathered around him
that he got into a boat and sat down,
and the whole crowd stood along the shore.
And he spoke to them at length in parables, saying:
“A sower went out to sow. . . .”
Matthew 13:1-3