The one that fell on the path

After yesterday, I just couldn't resist the small stalk of oats that was growing just on the path.  Read  Matthew 13:1-9, so that you are familiar with the story. 

How it had managed to escape the regimental lines of oat stalks I will never know.  It is less than half the height of those in the row in the field, where the soil has been ploughed and prepared.  Under these conditions its yield is poor, just 7 new seeds from the 1 sown.  The others have twenty or more, nowhere near Jesus' hundred, sixty, or even thirty, but twenty is a much better yield than oats would have had in the first century.  Margaret reminded us of the meaning of the parable - it is further on in the Matthew chapter, but added some new ideas too.  We must be patient when looking for growth, because we are so used to fast everything, but harvest does not happen the day after sowing.  The thing that struck me most about yesterday was the question "Are we even in the right field?"
Perhaps that's how this oat came to be growing on the edge of the path - perhaps it was meant for the other field, at least it had avoided the birds, but it fell prey to the dog walker.