Thought for the Day-The Parable of the Sower

Green Ears of Wheat, Vincent van Gogh, 1888

A Thought for the Day given at the lunchtime service of Holy Communion at 11am on Wednesday 24th July 2024 at St Giles-in-the-Fields based on the text of Matthew 13.1-9

Fans of Jeremy Clarkson’s latest documentary may have been surprised by his embrace of regenerative farming.

Equally surprising is the fact that the techniques involved are based on elementary biology that we were all taught at school. Adopting agricultural practices that work with the nitrogen cycle rather than against it. Carefully selecting beans and other ‘cover crops’ that complement the particular soil type - and planting these amongst a ‘cash crop’ to improve the nutrient and moisture content of the soil and enhance biodiversity.

The urgent need for widespread deployment of such practices is revealed in a recent UN report, which states that 40% of the world’s soils are seriously damaged as a result of deforestation, the use of chemical fertilizers and climate change.

Regenerative farming has shown that soil degradation can be reversed when we farm in a way that complements rather than contradicts creation.

Soul degradation can be reversed in the same way.

The Parable of the Sower reminds us that the seed of true life - the fulfilment of our ultimate desire - has been sown plentifully across every corner of the earth.

But the conditions for growth to occur are not always met.

We may have become exhausted by an unending quest for satisfaction and joy from artificial - and inevitably unfulfilling sources. We may not be ready to accept the potential to flourish within us - unable to feel worthy of the great gift we have received. Or we may discover it and then lose sight of it.

Once that seed is found, what encourages its growth is the revelation of faith, hope and love – the way of Jesus. When we read about the life of Christ, when we pray as he taught us and when we surround ourselves with those who embody his life in what they say and do. The greater our exposure to these stimuli, the more we grow in the same way.

When we align our lives to complement rather than contradict the manner in which we were created – when we embrace the goodness that has been planted within each of us and nourish our souls by living according to the image in which we were made - the promised harvest is more plentiful than we could ever imagine.

Image: Green Ears of Wheat, Vincent van Gogh, 1888