The Sower and the Soil

So I was driving into work one morning, listening to the scripture podcast from my Laudate App  on my phone, and the Gospel for that day was the parable of the Sower and the Soil - Mark, Chapter 4.  Every time I hear this parable, I try to think about which type of growing environment I am providing for God's word - am I the path, the rocky ground, the thorny bush, or the rich soil.  Oh how I want to be the rich soil!

That day God planted in my mind (see how I did that, using an agricultural metaphor) the idea that not by chance alone does the soil takes on one of these conditions.  Any farmer will tell you that good soil doesn't just exist on it's own - it is cultivated.  It comes from the farmer working the soil, getting rid of the thorns and weeds and rocks, providing nutrients via water and fertilizers, keeping watch over it with scarecrows and fences.  Only then is it ripe for planting and will yield it's fruit thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.

So I think it's pretty clear that our souls are the soil (get how soil is very close to soul - take out the I and put in the U - perhaps profoundly speaking of the dichotomy of selfishness and service).  I think many of us mistakenly think that God is the farmer and does the cultivating.  I would like to put forth the idea that OUR OWN WILL is the actual farmer.  It is our will that drives our decisions to either cultivate or neglect the soil.  It is truly our choice.  If our will neglects the soil it is open to every and all influences - it gets rocky and weedy and lacks the proper nutrients and is open to predators, and no matter how strong the seed planted, it will struggle to survive.

So whenever I hear this parable my concentration and focus needs to shift from the question of 'Which soil am I?' to 'How am I cultivating my soul?'  Attending PX90, going on a CRHP retreat,  prayer, reading scripture, availing oneself of the sacraments...these are all great tools for working, feeding and protecting our soil. 

How are you cultivating yours?  I'd love to hear in the comments some ways that you keep your soul cultivated and open to the growth and fruit God wants to plant there.