Why Meaning So Often Fails to Take Root: Lessons from the Parable of the Sower

© 2026. Luis A. Marrero. Boston Institute for Meaningful Purpose

[Text written with, by, and for human intelligence.]

(For those interested in an academic version on the subject, please read my blog: Logoteleology and the Parable of the Sower: A Method That Begins with the Ground.)

Let me start with something simple.

Most people I work with already care about meaning. They want their lives, their work, and their relationships to matter. They’ve read books, listened to podcasts, gone to therapy, attended workshops, prayed, tried psychedelics, reflected, tried to “do the work.”

And yet, many of them eventually say some version of the same thing:

“I understand all of this… but somehow it’s not sticking.”

That observation—repeated over years, across very different settings—is what led me to the work I now call logoteleology.

We’re Not Short on Good Ideas

If anything, we are surrounded by good ideas.

There are shelves full of books on happiness, meaning, purpose, leadership, healing, and personal growth. Psychology, philosophy, religion, and coaching have given us powerful insights. Many approaches genuinely help people—sometimes in profound ways.

I don’t question that. I’ve seen it myself.

What I do question is why so much progress seems temporary.

People gain insight, then fall back.

Organizations transform, then unravel.

Motivation rises, then fades.

When this happens often enough, you stop attributing blame to effort or intelligence. You start asking a different question.

An Old Parable That Still Explains a Lot

There’s an old story—the Parable of the Sower—that I keep returning to because it’s quietly precise.

A farmer scatters good seed generously. Some seeds grow. Others don’t. The seed isn’t the problem. The difference is the soil.

Some ground is shallow. Some is rocky. Some is overrun with weeds. Only one kind of ground allows the seed to grow and last.

Every time I revisit this parable, I hear it asking a very practical question:

What if the problem isn’t the message, but the conditions it lands in?

When I talk about “the ground,” I’m not talking about motivation or attitude in the usual sense.

I’m talking about the deeper, often invisible structures people already live inside:

• how they see themselves

• what they assume about life and responsibility

• what they believe is possible—or not

• how they explain success, failure, and meaning

These things usually operate quietly, beneath awareness. They feel obvious, even when they’re limiting.

Many approaches touch on these issues, sometimes early on. That’s not the issue.

What I kept noticing is that this groundwork is rarely treated as the main work.

It’s often rushed past in order to get to goals, purpose, or action.

Logoteleology begins earlier than that.

Before we add more meaning, more goals, or more direction, I ask:

What kind of ground is this meaning landing on?

Why Success That Doesn’t Last Isn’t Enough

I’ve seen people succeed—and still struggle later.

I’ve seen organizations thrive—and then collapse.

I’ve seen insight change someone’s life—for a season.

That doesn’t mean those efforts failed. It indicates that something deeper wasn’t yet stable enough to bear the weight of change.

For me, the real question became:

Can meaning endure when conditions change?

That’s the question logoteleology exists to address.

Starting Where Growth Actually Begins

The Parable of the Sower doesn’t criticize the seed.

It doesn’t blame the farmer.

It simply tells the truth about growth.

Growth begins before action.

Before motivation.

Before meaning is added.

It begins with the ground.

My work is an attempt to take that seriously—to help people prepare the inner conditions that allow meaning, purpose, and direction not just to appear, but to take root and last.

A Closing Thought

Good seeds are everywhere.

The real question is not whether meaning is offered.

The question is whether the ground is ready.