Good earth

 I have been thinking about the Parable of the Sower from a different angle this morning. My thoughts aren't all fleshed out but here's what I've got so far.

Sometimes, my family sits down together and watches old family videos from when we were kids. It is funny to see that our facial expressions and mannerisms haven't changed too much since then. My dad calls it "continuity of personality." 

I think we all have a lot more continuity of personality than we might think. Don't get me wrong -- this is mostly a good thing. We are all still the same wonderful people we were when we were kids. We are all inherently good and creative and curious.

But we still all have our quirks. We still have our triggers. And here's the part that might seem hard to believe -- those don't change even when we change our minds.

That is, you might have had a political, ideological, or religious shift in your life. You might look back at your former self and think, "Wow, I used to be so gullible/combative/self-righteous/whatever." But chances are, whatever you used to do is what you still do, just with different opinions. Merely changing your views isn't enough to change how you respond to things, especially if you are inclined to be angry, codependent, contemptuous, controlling, scrupulous, stubborn, defeatist, whiny, petulant, judgmental, or prone to martyrdom.

That's why the Parable of the Sower is about the ground, not the seed. The ground is the part that we can control, and it's the part that needs the most nourishment. It is our job to make sure it is not too alkali and that the carbon:nitrogen ratio is good. It is our job to spend time creating a healthy environment for good seeds so that the thorns and weeds have no place to grow.

So how do we make that good ground for our own personalities? How do we learn to respond in healthy ways and cultivate positive traits in ourselves?