Christmas and soil
Ancient literature like the Christian Bible uses soil or earth as a metaphor for a number of things, and since it's just before Christmas I wondered if something soil-related could be found in the gospel rendition of the Chritsmas story. No such luck . . . but the story below was told by the man of the season himself, and uses soil as a powerful metaphor of the human heart. So, I thought it oddly appropriate at this time of year which is also, unfortunately, characterised by our manic consumerism which I believe approaches mass hysteria in its disturbing intensity.
That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. Then he told them many things in parables, saying: "A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown."
Matthew 13:1-8 (Today's New International Version)
image from http://www.ebibleteacher.com/
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I have worked at UWA since 1995, coming from New Zealand to take an appointment as Lecturer in the Soil Science group in the former Faculty of Agriculture. I completed my PhD, from Lincoln University in New Zealand, in 1991. If you really want to find out about work stuff go
here. In real life I love my wife, daughter and guitar. Occasionally, I wish I had chosen a career as a carpenter, counsellor or poet.