Sunday’s gospel, the parable of the sower, was one of the parables that Jesus taught while sitting in a boat on the Sea of Galilee. The teaching of the parable of the sower is as true for us today as it was in its original context. The word of the kingdom continues to fall on people who are at various stages of readiness to receive it. At baptism we receive the seed of faith – God's word and life in us – that we are to cultivate and make flourish. What Jesus suggests to his disciples – and to us – is that the ‘good soil’ can’t always be predicted. Jesus doesn’t tell his disciples to only sow the word in people who are receptive. Rather, he wants them – and us – to scatter the word everywhere and to rejoice when it does find good soil and yields a rich harvest.