I'm up at our place in northern Wisconsin trying to make sure things don't freeze in the bitter cold-- according to my weather app it is -31 degrees F outside right now (real temperature, not wind chill). The good news is that when it is this cold everything is incredibly quiet outside. Sometimes that's a very good thing. We need quiet from time to time, because in the quiet we can hear things that we don't otherwise hear. And, as our Gospel tells us today, hearing, especially hearing God, is critical to bearing spiritual fruit. In Mark's telling of the parable of the sower and the seed (Mk 4: 1-20) the word "hear" appears seven times. The parable starts with Jesus saying to the crowd: "Hear this!" We might say: "Listen up, people!" Then six more times Jesus talks about hearing-- whoever has ears outght to hear, He says. The sower sows the "word," and people hear it, He says. People react differently to that hearing of the word. Some forget it quickly; some react with joy but quickly forget it when troubles arise; some hear but are distracted by the things of the world; and some hear and accept the word, and generate a great harvest. But it all starts with hearing. We have to hear the word before there is a response. How do we hear God's word? We might remember that the voice of the Lord is usually the "still, small voice" that the prophet Elijah heard on the mountain top, after experiencing the wind and earthquake and fire and hearing the Lord in none of those (1 Kings 19:11-13) God doesn't usually yell at us. God whispers, so as not to overpower our own will. To hear a whisper, a "still, small voice," we need quiet. Perhaps today's bitter cold gives us the gift of quiet. Experience it. Let it wash over you. Enjoy it. And listen-- you might be surprised at what you hear.