Our parables today will remind us that though we may be the sower of seeds, and we are also the soil that receives the seeds, it is not we who are in charge of the way things go. We are only in charge of our own personal behavior and response. Perhaps a little more leaning on the everlasting arms would do us all good.

Two men who died recently on the same day, C.T. Vivian and John Lewis, were two that leaned upon the everlasting arms in their private lives, and gave generously of themselves to the public. They have much to teach us about what it means to be a person of faith. And they, along with Dag Hammarskjold, Paul the Apostle, and Jesus are our rabbis in today's podcast.