Soil
To be a successful farmer one must first know the nature of the soil.
—Xenophon, Greek Philosopher, Student of Socrates
I love dirt. I always have. Digging in it, getting my hands dirty, dirt under my fingernails. When we were little, we played in the dirt and in the mud. There were some dirt piles near our home, and we would climb to the top and slide down. We made mud pies, we planted vegetables and set out strawberries. At the end of the day, we would be wearing “dirt necklaces”, those rings of dirt that got into the cracks around your neck. It had been a good day when the bathwater was muddy.
God himself worked in the soil. That’s how he made man. I like to think about the hands-on creativity of that act as described in Genesis. So it’s no surprise that digging in the dirt is good for the soul, but it may surprise you that it’s also good for your health. Gardeners come into contact with soil bacteria through their hands and by inhaling the microbes. Some of these bacteria have been shown to improve mood in much the same way as Prozac does. All I know is, time outside in my garden makes me happy, and I think the happiest moments are spent on my knees with my hands in the dirt.
Good soil is a treasure, and on our little flower farm in my hometown of Greeneville, Tennessee, I am blessed with really good soil. It’s dark and rich and loose. Water drains through it, and it nurtures whatever I plant in it. The flowers and vegetables grow strong and beautiful. We have marveled at this. Upper East Tennessee has soil that is usually full of clay. It is hard and dense, difficult to till, and it doesn’t drain well. It holds too much water, and when water is scarce, it is as hard as concrete. The soil in our neck of the woods is not normally a nurturing environment for a garden.
We wonder how it is that the soil in our little half-acre situated right by the railroad tracks in town is so rich and loose, so dark and beautiful. I’ve said it’s God’s gift, and I believe that. However, there must be a history, a physical explanation for the quality of the soil. We have speculated that the land served as a storage site for coal long ago. I like the thought of that. It’s romantic to think of this patch as the place that fed the trains and that, perhaps, the use of the land for one purpose prepared it for a future use.
Whatever the reason, the soil on our property is good for growing things. Soil does many jobs. It anchors the roots, enabling plants to grow sturdy and tall. Soil holds moisture and nutrients that help feed the plants, and soil is a home for many creatures – those we can see and those we can’t. Creating the right environment encourages creatures that benefit a garden.
To support plants, the soil must be deep enough and loose enough for the roots to go down. It must also be strong enough to hold the roots in place. An aside here: This is why I don’t grow corn. Even with my good, rich soil, the corn stalks don’t have enough of a root system to support them through a strong wind. When I grew corn, it was never a great field of corn which allows the plants to support each other (there’s a lesson there somewhere). The first good wind would always lay my corn down, so I’ve given up on growing corn. I buy mine from a fellow who is successful, who grows great fields of corn. This helps me avoid the humiliation of growing a beautiful stand of corn only to find it all laying on the ground after the first summer storm.
A root system and the soil it is planted in is a good analogy for our faith. We cannot thrive if our faith can’t grow tall and strong with a good root system that prevents us from being flattened in a storm. In his letter to the Colossians, Paul says, “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in Him, rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with faithfulness.” (NIV) If we let our roots grow deep in the soil that is Jesus Christ, our faith can grow tall and strong, supporting us through the storms of life.
Roots grow down in the soil. Gravity helps the seeds know where to send the roots. This is a fascinating feature of nature that ensures the roots will reach the storehouse of nutrition stored in the soil – the water and nutrients necessary for the plant to thrive. Good soil not only has these elements, but it also makes it possible for the roots to reach down and down – deep and wide – enabling the plant to draw in its sustenance.
In the parable of the sower, Jesus tells us that some seeds fall on rocky soil. These plants spring up quickly, but there is no place for the roots to go – nowhere for the plants to gather in water and food, so they quickly wither and die. We must be sure the place that we’re putting our roots, our faith, has the depth and nourishment to, not only sustain that faith, but also to nurture it to grow and thrive. Before any harvest is possible, we must have a strong, established plant. One that has good access to food and water. We need to make certain that our community of faith is healthy and that it supports our growth. We must seek a community that nurtures and encourages us – that supports us to grow and thrive and to become strong in our faith and enables us to live out that faith as God intended. We should never remain in a place the diminishes us or limits our potential. Paul prays this for the Ephesians,
For this reason, I kneel before the Father from whom His whole family
in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray out of His glorious riches
He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being so
that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith. And I pray that you, being
rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the
saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,
and to know this love that surpasses knowledge – that you may be filled
to the measure of all the fullness of God. (NIV)
Find that place where the soil is rich, that nourishes your growth – where you can thrive.
Creatures. If you get on your hands and knees and dig in the dirt, you’re going to find creatures. Some are seen, and some are unseen. Some are good, and some are bad, and I confess that I often don’t know the difference. I do know that there are ways to encourage good creatures in the soil. Whether I know what they are or not, I can create the conditions that favor good ones and discourage bad ones. As it turns out, soil organisms need the same things we need to thrive – food, water, and oxygen. There are a few things we can do to promote the growth of these good organisms. One is to always keep roots in the ground – cover crops in off season return nutrients to the soil that help the good creatures grow. Also, using natural foods like manure and compost helps. Use of chemicals can damage the environment for all creatures; poisons that kill bad creatures often kill the good ones, too. Finally, introducing diversity helps good creatures thrive. Rotating crops or interplanting crops is good for the soil environment and encourages beneficial organisms’ growth.
What an excellent metaphor for the church! Stay connected – always keep roots in the ground – don’t allow the soil to become barren and empty. Words are food for life, so be careful with your words – words should speak life. Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and the those who love it and indulge it will eat its fruit and bear the consequences of their words. Proverbs 18:21 (Amplified Bible) We can introduce life, nurturing others with our words, or we can destroy. A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a network of silver. Proverbs 25:11 (American Standard Version)
Diversity. This is something the church does not do well. Honestly, we typically do not do this well as individuals either. We are drawn to people like us – to people who will confirm what we believe and affirm our ways. We don’t often have economic diversity or racial diversity or cultural diversity in the church. But the early church was diverse – on purpose. We see slaves and soldiers and wealthy households attending church together. In the sixteenth chapter of Acts, we are told about three additions to the church: a wealthy merchant, Lydia; a slave girl who was possessed by a fortune-telling spirit; and a blue-collar worker, the jailer who witnessed the doors fly open and the chains fall away when Paul and Silas prayed and sang. This diversity – economic, gender, ethnic, social – was by design. It is necessary for the church to be healthy and strong.
It is to our detriment that we discourage diversity. And by discourage, I mean a failure to seek diversity intentionally and actively. A gardener must intentionally plan for crop rotation or crop integration. So, too, must church leaders plan for diversity. Diversity brings strength. It guards against the unhealthy culture brought about by singularity of thought and experience. It introduces vitality and understanding. We are all strengthened when we welcome and befriend others who have different experiences than we do. I would venture to say that this is one of the biggest dangers to the Kingdom of God – our tendency to segregate ourselves with those who are culturally similar and who see things exactly as we do.
While diversity is necessary, it is not the end goal. As Rich Villodas points out in his book, The Deeply Formed Life, “When we make diversity the end goal, we are no different from New York City subway cars.” While diversity is not the end or complete goal, it is the right place to start. Villodas goes on to explain,
When the gospel is deeply at work, racial reconciliation results in a diverse community that embraces the unique gifts and acknowledges the distinctive sins of their ethnic – racial – social makeup while experiencing loving communion with others under the Lordship of Jesus.
Diversity is powerful and necessary – in gardens and in life.
Soil – humble and simple, yet foundational (literally) to our existence. Its provision is often overlooked, but today I pause to pay homage and to give thanks. Here’s to dirt: without it I wouldn’t have tomato sauce or raspberries on my cereal or flowers on by dining room table. May we always make the time and have the place to dig in the dirt, to get dirt under our fingernails, and, at the end of the day, to turn our bathwater muddy.
