The Miracle of Dirt!

[rockinlibrarian]

I got a composter for my birthday-- a big spinning bucket of a contraption you put all your compost in so you don't have to stir it, as you would a compost heap. This is a handy thing for me to have, because in the 11 years of its existence I have never once stirred the compost heap in our backyard. Freshly decomposed compost would be wonderful to put in my garden-- and there is very little that makes me as happy as gardening does-- but that heap beside the shed had become a resting place for huge branches, invasive weeds, scraps of whatever dead things I pulled out of the garden in the fall, leaves... which, at least the last bit, are all things that DO go in a compost heap, but stir it? I could hardly MOVE it. And certainly I hadn't been paying attention to "feeding" it properly.

As it's a beautiful afternoon and I have this new composter, I figured I'd go out, clear the larger branches aside, and put the soft stuff (the leaves and such) in the bin to turn into NICE USEABLE SOIL AT LAST. But guess what I found under all those leaves?

You're right! DIRT! But not just dirt-- there's dirt enough in the brown, hard mounds beside our yard right now because the neighbors are building an addition and have moved part of the hill. This was deep, black, rich, loamy SOIL. THE COMPOST HEAP HAD DONE ITS WORK ALL ALONG! WITHOUT my stirring it or regulating its composition!

IT WAS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL THING I'VE EVER SEEN this month. I shoveled it into the wheelbarrow, dumped it in the garden, and felt SO HAPPY for the snap peas and carrots that will take root there in the next couple months.

And as I did I thought, maybe my soul is like a compost heap. It's just this pile of waste that I never properly tend to, but maybe, maybe SOMEDAY, when I find some more practical system for dealing with it, and I clear away the debris on top, I'll find the stuff underneath has been turning into rich, fertile soil ALL ALONG.

Which is the sort of daydream somebody very lazy who does not want to properly tend to her spiritual compost heap would harbor.

But there is one good thing about it. It's hopeful. It's saying that even if I AM crappy at tending to my life, all is not lost. There are worms and centipedes of the Holy Spirit working away down there even when I'm not doing my share. (WORMS AND CENTIPEDES OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. I need to make a devotional painting on this theme now). So sure, if I never bother to clear that top layer away, it won't do anybody any good. But if I ever DO, well, I won't be working entirely from scratch.

Or, you know, compost heaps could have absolutely no bearing on the human soul and I'm being far too optimistic.

But hope's nice.

Comments

[vovat.livejournal.com]

We used to compost when I was a kid, but obviously I can't when I live in an apartment. Besides, it more or less got to the point that we just threw all the compost in a pile without ever using it for anything.

Hi, Kim Aippersbach here

[(Anonymous)]

Compost heaps are totally a perfect metaphor for the human soul! Or, at least, for human creativity. I don't know if I'm getting any more holy or loving without conscious effort, but I do think ideas generate down in the darkness with the worms and the centipedes. But maybe it is a good metaphor for spiritual transformation, because it's the little choices we make every day, that don't seem to mean much, that all pile up and transform our souls, eventually.

Metaphor aside, isn't composting cool? Gardening is proof that magic is real.

Hi from Colorado

[(Anonymous)]

I just love this post! Composting is indeed awesome in every way, and I think it is an excellent metaphor for the soul. I think you are exactly right, it does break all the life experiences down and evolve itself whether we pay any attention or give it any attention at all, though of course you DO turn over the compost pile of your soul.:-) And anyway I think that even if you didn't take off the top layer the new energy would still come through like plants poking out. Happy gardening!
AG