Acre after acre of knee-high cornstalks, line up in attention like white crosses at Arlington, reaching for nutrients they know they will get.  Both above and beneath, the soil-water-sunshine combo will nurture the genetically modified seed whose corporate inventor still reaps the royalties, at least that’s what that Monsanto sign up front probably means.

Massive wheeled watering systems will tentacle out over the plains to sprinkle just the right amount of water at just the right time, all according to the bioengineering department’s calculations.  Meanwhile the multi-million dollar fleet of combines perches like lions behind coliseum gates, ready to pounce with precision on a fairly predictable abundance.

Modern agriculture has every reason to scoff at a biblical image of a Sower whose farming techniques lack such precision - a fist-full of precious seeds on the rocks, another on the hard path, how about some in the thorn patch?  But the Sower cares not about the sowing, all that matters is the reaping!  ‘Be good soil!’ goes the message, ‘Be one who hears, understands, and yields 30, 60, even 100 fold, for the fickle, worldly-minded, and easily distracted yield nothing.’

Cultivate the ‘good soil’ in ourselves is the message.  But how do we do that?  We suspect that raking out the hard path, clearing the rocks and removing thorns are what’s needed.  It may mean dealing with the bitterness, laziness, and restlessness and lifting up a mindfulness, prayerfulness, and farmer’s work ethic that enrich and revitalize.

So in these quieter summer months, how might we cultivate good soil?  What does good soil look like?  What needs to be cleared away, what needs to be added?  What do we need to hear and understand to yield 30, 60, even 100 fold?

Reading

God is Back – Micklethwait and Wooldridge

The Third Twin – Ken Follett

How to Build an Engaged Congregation - Winesman