A Life with Roots: Narrative Pastoral Care and Communities of Identity in the Parable of the “Good Soil”

Abstract

This article interprets the parable traditionally known as the parable of the sower by arguing that it is actually a parable focusing on good soil. It analyzes the parable’s placement next to Gospel narratives in which Jesus redefines his kin network and maintains that the good soil metaphor suggests ideal conditions of growth in which persons surround themselves with consciously chosen communities of support that help them to live out God’s purposes in their lives. Using Michael White’s re-membering conversations, I indicate how pastoral caregivers and psychotherapists can help persons use their previous mentorship relationships as a source of support and motivation. Finally, I argue, using Donald Capps’s psychological reconstructions based on historical Jesus scholarship, that Jesus’ emphasis on his new relationships in the Kingdom of God is best understood in relationship to his struggles with father absence.