The parables are intended to cause hearing, to enable seeing and to elicit response. They challenge people actually to hear and respond. As with the parable of the sower, mere hearing is not enough; the only valid response is productive living. Preaching parables accordingly should always be a call to respond and act. But what moves people to respond? Proximity produces impact. Hearers must be brought close to both the speaker and the scriptural teaching; otherwise there will be no response. Proximity