The Value Of Rich And Vibrant Soil

[Note: Today’s guest blogger is Tami Best. Tami is a functional and integrative dietitian serving the community through her practice – Promise of Vitality. She is also a member of the Mother Earth Community at Spiritus. She can be reached at
tamibest@promiseofvitality.com. Thank you, Tami!]

“Illnesses do not come upon us out of the blue. They are developed from small daily sins against nature. When enough sins have accumulated, illnesses will suddenly appear.” – Hippocrates.

In my practice, I often refer to the wisdom of the Hippocrates who is known as the “Father of Medicine”. Unfortunately, this wisdom has been lost in the slow burn of poor human decisions. My natural disposition is to view the world through a lens of hope and joy. I wear a necklace that says “56:3” which represents Psalm 56:3. How I interpret his psalm, is that when I am afraid, I put my trust in God which allows me to remain hopeful. I must admit that there are current crises, created by a cumulation of flawed human choices, that are causing unchecked worry for me at times.

In the first reading, Jeremiah (chapter 17) describes how we become cursed when we put our trust in human beings and turn away from the Lord. The reading likens this situation to a barren bush in the desert with no changing seasons, standing in lava waste and an empty earth. In contrast, those who put their trust in the Lord are like a flourishing tree with roots extending into water, green leaves and no distress.

Much like the barren bush described in Jeremiah, WE are currently facing mass erosion of our beautiful land where rich, vibrant, dark soil turns to dusty dirt.

Think for a moment of times you have held rich, vibrant dark soil in your hands. Now think about when you have held dry, dusty dirt in your hands. Dirt is the soil that has lost all of its nutrients, and plants cannot really grow in dirt. And the erosion that we are witnessing on a massive scale is mainly caused by our over-tilling of soil and the mass utilization of pesticides.

As so many of us know, carbon dioxide is a gas that we breathe out and plants breathe in. Plants are responsible for pulling carbon out of the atmosphere to feed the roots and microorganisms in the soil. Without lush soil and healthy plants, carbon remains in the atmosphere contributing to climate change and global warming.

What can you do to help?

Choose foods that are grown organically (utilizing methods that preserve the soil quality) and when available choose produce from regenerative farms. These farms use a no-till method of farming and do not use chemicals that harm environmental and human health. The environmental group is also a great resource that helps you make affordable choices that support our environment. I also highly recommend visiting Kiss the Ground. There is a fabulous documentary available at this website that inspires hope and provides a path forward for change.

In the gospel, Luke 16 describes how Lazarus – covered in sores and starving with no food – would love to eat the scraps of the wealthy man who discards them. Lazarus dies and is carried to the Lord by Abraham. Here Lazarus now will live in comfort for eternity. The wealthy man, however, also dies and is sent to hell. He begs Abraham to send Lazarus to warn his brothers to behave differently (so that they will not meet his same fate). Abraham says that if his brothers won’t listen to Moses and the prophets, someone rising from death will not convince them.

What happens when we dehumanize our less fortunate neighbors? Nothing good.

In our gospel today, we are spoken to directly about food waste. When we consider this reality in our own world, we can easily see that not only are we harming our neighbors, we are harming our planet. Food waste is massive with Earth.org reporting that one-fifth of all food produced is wasted! This could easily feed millions of people suffering from malnutrition and food insecurity. The rotting food in landfills creates methane gas which further harms our planet.

What can you do?

– Consider composting. My husband and I have a small composting bin under our kitchen sink. When it is full of our food scraps, we add it to a larger composting tumbler in our back yard. We then use this compost to enhance the soil in our yard.

– Be thoughtful about how you cook food. Cook for the number of people you are
serving. If there are extras, freeze meals in individual sized glass (NOT PLASTIC) containers. These meals then can be used when life gets busy and there is no time to cook.

Everything is connected. Let’s remember the wisdom of Hippocrates. Let us not sin against nature. Let us choose to take care of the beautiful Earth we have been gifted and our fellow humans that we share it with.

I was reminded at our recent Mother Earth Ministry meeting that the key to finding hope is not inactivity and worry but action. If we all take small steps today we can protect our own health and the health of the planet. Join the Spiritus Mother Earth Ministry on April 27 th as we celebrate Earth Day and to learn more ways you can take earth-friendly action.