It attempts to snatch away such a source of joy! It comes along with doubt, fear and unbelief – explaining away the miracle of the loaves and fishes (Jesus didn’t multiply the little boy’s lunch! No, the crowd was inspired to share the food they had hidden away!). After all, if the miracles didn’t happen then, they can’t happen now!

And what makes you think you are deserving of God’s mercies? None of us are! That’s what makes God’s love so wonderful! It is a gift given freely.

Jesus continues:  Some seed fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth. They immediately sprang up, because they had no deepness of soil. When the sun rose high in the sky, they were scorched. Because they had no root, they withered away.

Artwork by graphic novelist Earnest Graham of the website Look Both Ways: Art and Faith