We are the Gardeners: Good Soil
On Sunday, I spoke about “making a place” – what does it mean to “make a place.” Just to jog or memory or for the first time -
Let me explain.
A place is – an area, a building, a city or town or village, or house. Right?
A school, a dorm room, an office.
How do you “make a place?”
Throughout Lent, I read a book called Placemaker: Cultivating Places of Comfort, Beauty, and Peaceby Christie Purifoy. In this book, Purifoy walks us through the beginning of her married life to now. They moved numerous times during those years and she learned about how to “make a place.”
She writes, “If peace is a state of harmony, if it is a kind of wholeness or completeness, then peaceful places are spacious places where our whole selves can abide. They are places with room enough for our joys and our sorrows, room enough for our neighbors and all those in need of comfort, rest, and renewal.
What is placemaking? It is deliberately sending your roots deep into a place, like a tree. It means allowing yourself to be nourished by a place even as you shape it for the better.”
So, when you “make a place” – you plant there, you send your roots deep into the place. You allow yourself to be nourished there.
I’m still stuck on this idea of “place” and how one can be nourished there.
I’m sure you noticed our amazing garden boxes outside! How could you not? A boy scout named Sam Baker led the charge to fundraise for the supplies, gather the kids and give marching orders on Saturday. They turned out beautifully. Now I’m a little freaked that NOW we need to ACTUALLY fill them!
WE DO have a master gardener, Amy Astrom, who came to the rescue! Amy is in charge of filling the beds with baby veggies that will grow to feed not only us this summer but hopefully support East Colfax Food Bank and Colfax Community Network.
Over the next five weeks, our kids will work with Ms Amy to prepare our garden and help plant it! It will be so neat to watch it over the summer to see it grow.
Clearly my mind is ON the garden:
preparing for it –
Amanda, Sarah and I met with Sam a few times and shared several emails about how the boxes would look and where they would go;
talked with Liz Rutledge from Sustainable Three to get the soil;
got Mark Thrush to come in with his son, Will, and work on the sprinkler system so our veggies get the right amount of water – they were here for hours on Saturday;
and dreamt withAmy on what we would plant!
Once all of that is in place – we CAN plant our garden on May 23!
I do not have a green thumb although I do love plants.
I grew up with a spathidulim in the house and we couldn’t kill that thing.
So in my early adult years, I had one of those that survived.
Now – we have a cool plant from Sarah’s house that took a month or so to get used to us, but now she likes us and is growing well.
At our house, we’ve tried tomatoes and herbs, but they always fried in our backyard. So, we haven’t done that in years.
I love the symbolism of a garden though.
There are four gardens in the bible:
The Garden of Eden, The Garden of Gethsemane, The Garden where Jesus is buried and then seen in the flesh on Easter, and finally a Garden in Revelation which is heaven on Earth.
So, here we have a garden, well, the beginnings of one. It’s exciting.
I’ve learned so much already and the plants aren’t even in the ground yet.
A few weeks ago, I bought a children’s book by Joanna Gaines – the Magnolia, Fixer Upper lady and her kids. It's called We are the Gardeners. It’s about the planting and growing of their awesome garden.
I will mention it in the next few weeks, as we prepare and plant ours.
Here are a few things I learned from the book:
1)The garden needs sun to grow.
2)The garden needs good soil to grow.
3)The garden needs water to grow.
4)The garden needs seeds to grow.
Yes, I know – I knew it needed sun, but not too much sun; water, but not too much water and obviously seeds.
What I didn’t know is the part about “good soil.” Maybe you know this, but it was news to me.
There’s a neat website called www.good-dirt.com written by a couple in Raleigh, NC. It says, “When you look at the soil, it may seem like lifeless dirt and rocks, but in fact it is very much alive.
Millions of small organisms live in healthy soil which is rich in organic matter. Some of them are big enough to see, such as earthworms and small insects. But, most of them are so small that you can only see them if you use a microscope. These microscopic organisms include nematodes (tiny worms), bacteria, fungi and even some insects which are invisible to the naked eye. These living organisms make soil alive and give it a good structure and texture. A living soil ecosystem nurtures and nourishes plants by providing a healthy medium to take roots and through a steady supply of nutrients.”
That got me thinking about the Parable of the Sower.
Here’s a little different version:
He said many things to them in parables: “A farmer went out to scatter seed. As he was scattering seed, some fell on the path, and birds came and ate it.
Other seed fell on rocky ground where the soil was shallow. They sprouted immediately because the soil wasn’t deep. But when the sun came up, it scorched the plants, and they dried up because they had no roots.
Other seed fell among thorny plants. The thorny plants grew and choked them.
Other seed fell on good soil and bore fruit, in one case a yield of one hundred to one, in another case a yield of sixty to one, and in another case a yield of thirty to one. Everyone who has ears should pay attention.”
Then there is an explanation:
“Consider then the parable of the farmer. Whenever people hear the word about the kingdom and don’t understand it, the evil one comes and carries off what was planted in their hearts. This is the seed that was sown on the path.
As for the seed that was spread on rocky ground, this refers to people who hear the word and immediately receive it joyfully. Because they have no roots, they last for only a little while. When they experience distress or abuse because of the word, they immediately fall away.
As for the seed that was spread among thorny plants, this refers to those who hear the word, but the worries of this life and the false appeal of wealth choke the word, and it bears no fruit.
As for what was planted on good soil, this refers to those who hear and understand, and bear fruit and produce—in one case a yield of one hundred to one, in another case a yield of sixty to one, and in another case a yield of thirty to one.”
In Joanna Gaines’ book it says, “The thing about seeds is that they’re everyday miracles. Everything a plant will grow up to be is already hidden inside the seed.” Isn’t that profound?!?
Everything you will grow up to be or have grown up to be was already hidden inside you as an infant.
BUT what does a seed need to grow – sun, water, and good soil.
I think we are both the seed and the dirt/path/or soil.
Let me explain.
The common understanding of this passage in Matthew is that Jesus is spreading seeds of faith and seeds of knowledge of the kingdom of God – which is here, but not fully – the fullness comes in heaven.
So, the passage is saying, God’s words fall on people who don’t want to hear it and the words/seeds die.
God’s words fall on some people who are excited to hear them but don’t learn to rely on them and the seeds eventually die.
God’s words fall on those hurt by life who aren’t able to take in the love of God and those seeds die.
Then God’s words fall on a person or persons who are yearning to hear God’s news of love, forgiveness and eternal life and those people – that soil soaks in the seeds of faith and grows and grows.
There are more ways to read this passage including – if YOU are the sower spreading God’s word, do you need to worry about where you throw the seed or should you just share the good news of Christ and it takes root where it takes root?
I want to go back to the “sense of place”, the “making of a place” and go the direction of – us as the seeds and not the soil.
Remember: “If peace is a state of harmony, if it is a kind of wholeness or completeness, then peaceful places are spacious places where our whole selves can abide. They are places with room enough for our joys and our sorrows, room enough for our neighbors and all those in need of comfort, rest, and renewal.
What is placemaking? It is deliberately sending your roots deep into a place, like a tree. It means allowing yourself to be nourished by a place even as you shape it for the better.”
If we are the seeds – we have everything already in us to grow into who God has created us to be, then we just need good soil with lots of bugs and things to help us grow. Right?
Good soil at home, at church, and in yourselves.
Let’s briefly look at these:
Good Soil at home – ASK THE QUESTION
Create a place of peace.
Eat good food and not junk food (talking to myself here.)
Listen to more music and less news and other things on television.
Walk more with your family.
Sit on your porch if you have one and take in nature.
Laugh with friends in your home – share your table with them whether it’s a tiny table or one for a banquet hall!
Create a place of peace.
Eat good food and not junk food (talking to myself here.)
Listen to more music and less news and other things on television.
Walk more with your family.
Sit on your porch if you have one and take in nature.
Laugh with friends in your home – share your table with them whether it’s a tiny table or one for a banquet hall!
Pray at meals thanking God and pray when you wake and before you sleep.
Be kind to those in your home, even when they aren’t to you.
But also – don’t let yourself be abused verbally or any other way.
Be kind to those in your home, even when they aren’t to you.
But also – don’t let yourself be abused verbally or any other way.
Good Soil at church – ASK THE QUESTION
Loving, kind atmosphere where you connect with church friends and the kids!
Where you care about one another and catch up.
Where you sing wholeheartedly and pray sincerely.
Where you hear a message planned with you in mind that makes you think and recharges you for the week – basically adds more good worms to your soil!
Where you eat wonderful, nourishing food and not just donuts ;)
Where you don’t feel judged for who you are, where you come from, what you look like, what your political positions are (I’ve got to work on that one.)
Where YOU ARE LOVED.
Loving, kind atmosphere where you connect with church friends and the kids!
Where you care about one another and catch up.
Where you sing wholeheartedly and pray sincerely.
Where you hear a message planned with you in mind that makes you think and recharges you for the week – basically adds more good worms to your soil!
Where you eat wonderful, nourishing food and not just donuts ;)
Where you don’t feel judged for who you are, where you come from, what you look like, what your political positions are (I’ve got to work on that one.)
Where YOU ARE LOVED.
Good Soil in yourself – ASK THE QUESTION
It is so important to speak kind words to yourself.
To love yourself.
To know the good things about you and REMEMBER those when society is pushing you to remember all the things you’re not good at or capable of.
To remember that YOU are a CHILD of GOD. Take that in for a sec.
You are a Child of God. God loved YOU so much that he gave his son so that YOU could have everlasting life.
If there is good soil around you, but your immediate dirt is dead – how will you grow?
It is so important to speak kind words to yourself.
To love yourself.
To know the good things about you and REMEMBER those when society is pushing you to remember all the things you’re not good at or capable of.
To remember that YOU are a CHILD of GOD. Take that in for a sec.
You are a Child of God. God loved YOU so much that he gave his son so that YOU could have everlasting life.
If there is good soil around you, but your immediate dirt is dead – how will you grow?
In the book, We are the Gardeners, the kids write, “Dad always says that the foundation is the most important thing when it comes to building a house. A house can’t be strong if it’s built on something weak, and the same holds true in a garden. SO to make the foundation of our garden strong, we filled it with…soil…That’s pretty amazing when you stop and think about it. A whole hidden world of life is happening beneath our feet. Just because you can’t see the good things with your eyes doesn’t mean they’re not there! And another cool thing about soil is that it feeds and strengthens the seeds we sow, and then, LIKE A MIRACLE, plants and flowers burst out of the ground!”
Out of the mouths of babes and their mama.
Just because you can’t “see” with your sees the good soil around you or NEEDED around you, doesn’t mean it isn’t here beneath you.
I want your relationship with God to grow so big and so deep that NOTHING can shake that faith. These are ways to help us grow and bear fruit (which we’ll talk about in the weeks to come.)
Amen
