Day 11--Dirt

“... the Latin name for man, homo, derived from humus,                                                                                                      the stuff of life in the soil.” -Dr. Daniel Hillel

Soil is a primary ingredient of life. Both Christian evolutionists and creationists agree that man was formed, at least partially, from the soil, from basic elemental substances. I realize that the shore of common ground slopes sharply away from there. Creationists interpret the Genesis account strictly--man was created by God out of the ground literally, instantaneously:

from Organic Gardening

" And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." -Genesis 2:7

Christian evolutionists interpret the Genesis account poetically and assert that God used the process of evolution over a long period of time to create man and everything on earth.  

Now wait!  Before your head hurts and you close the window or worse yet jump to snap judgments--such as the thought that a mature Christian can't also be an evolutionist--I urge you to consider the possibility that it behooves the Church to listen to different parts of the Body.

There are intelligent folks on both side of the coin here.  Tim Keller--a man I consider to be a fairly good "listener" to both sides--has had some interesting things to say on Genesis, biblical interpretation, creationism and evolution (nothing definitive, but he fleshes out the complexity of the issue in a way I find genuine and helpful). 
Perhaps we can also all agree that these issues have created much division, even slander, within the Church. And, they continue to create division and compartmentalization inside individuals.

from the Atlantic

For this reason, I think many Christians prefer to avoid them.  But never talking about some of the elephants in the room--whether it be our family rooms, church rooms, or private rooms within our soul--isn't helpful or genuine either.  It doesn't make them go away. It just makes us fake. 

I'm of the camp that we should at least admit that there are elephants.  They exist. Now, I am not one who wants to dive in and dissect them all.  We need to step carefully--circumspectly and lovingly--and even more so around those who are of our same faith:

"Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone--especially to those in the family of faith." -Galatians 6:10

This is one such opportunity, no?  As we teach our children time and time again, we can be kind to each other, even when we disagree. 

So, I say, let's acknowledge that there are elephants among us and that the folks on the other side of our perspective warrant our respect and love--whether inside or outside the Church, though clearly the standard is higher within...something else to consider.

I, like most of us, prefer to find things that we can agree about and move on--especially if these things will not make or break us, and if there are bigger battles to fight. Which I there are. We may even disagree about what those battles might be, and that's okay too.

Why do I dare dabble in all of this? Partially because I dislike the polarization within the Church to one side or the other of many many issues. Partially because I think we can become emotionally reactive and hurtful if we don't check ourselves, and this type of behavior helps no one--not ourselves, not our opponent, not the Church, or the world outside. Partially because I think we should be better listeners within our families, within ourselves, within His Church.  And I don't like fake anything.

Moreover, I am thankful that--on some level, albeit small--we can mostly agree on some things--even if only something seemingly insignificant, like the value of soil--humus, dirt--in life.

Hannah Krueger's Tara

I know dirt may seem insignificant or even derogatory.  This is obvious in such expressions as, "he treated me like dirt." Others don't like to "get their hands muddy," and the connotations of an adjective like "dirty" haven't helped.   Scarlett O'Hara hid her hands after working the fields of Tara, as if they were something shameful.  We can be guilty of doing the same in small ways.  Yet ironically, wasn't the dirt what brought Scarlett back to what was real and truly important after the war? The dirt may have brought her to her knees, but it also was the source of her resurrection.  

We do well not to underestimate the value of dirt. 

Soil is the building block of everything--whether literal or spiritual. As any good gardener knows, if you pay attention to the soil, the plants will take care of themselves.  The image of soil plays a significant role throughout the scriptures as well, so that's where I am headed with my entries this week: into some muddy but compelling scriptures about soil...

Dirt is good stuff!  David and Grace, circa 2004