Bad for Business

Inside story

Do you belong here?

And where’s the donkey?

The Dry Land Swimming School

At Ease

Seeds

Soft Soap

The picnic

And where did you say...?

Goliath

Joseph looks back

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A retelling of the parable of the sower.

A farmer went out to sow his field. A breeze sprung up while he was sowing and blew some seed onto a hard path at the edge of the field. These seeds had no time to say goodbye to the farmer, let alone germinate, as a big bird swooped down saying: "Goody, goody!" and gobbled them all up.

The second lot of seed fell on thin soil. The seeds sprouted and started to grow. Then the sun came out. At first, the seeds on the thin soil brought out their sun beds and lilos and basked in the sun. But they soon began to burn and ran out of sun cream. The sun grew hotter and hotter, the seeds felt thirstier and thirstier, gasped for water, then shrivelled up and died.

The third lot of seed was carried by the wind into a corner of the field that was home to some big, rough, tough weeds. The seeds started to put down their roots and even put out some shoots, but the weeds grew faster and bigger and stronger. The seeds went in a delegation to the weeds and asked, oh so politely, for a little more room. But the Weeds' Leader, a really tough Nettle, gave a coarse laugh and said that they were a waste of space. Then he whistled to a couple of his mates called Thistle and Bindweed who choked them to death.

The rest of the seed fell on good soil. It was so soft that they soon burrowed out of sight of the bird. It was so deep that they could really stretch out their roots to drink deeply of its stored moisture. It was completely free of weeds so that they had loads of room for growth. These seeds grew strong and tall in the sun and swayed in the breeze. Their ears of corn swelled with the rainfall their roots had drunk from the soil. Their heads bent with the weight of the crop. At harvest time they turned a beautiful golden brown. So when they were harvested the farmer sang with joy at his wonderful yield.

"If you're deaf to my word," says Jesus,
"You'll be caught by that bird," says Jesus.
"He'll swallow you whole

Both body and soul,"
So don't be a nerd," says Jesus.

"Watch where you grow," says Jesus

Don't live for just show," says Jesus

"Put your roots down deep,

Don't sell yourself cheap,

Or the devil will crow," says Jesus.

"You are the seeds," says Jesus.

"So avoid the weeds," says Jesus.

"Those cares that choke,

Or cause you to croak -

Keep clear of all these," says Jesus.

"Have ears that hear," says Jesus,

"The harvest is near," says Jesus.

"Your hearts are the field

Where I look for a yield,

Of my goodness and truth," says Jesus.