A new season begins

Short reflection.

A Romanian intellectual turned bishop, now reposed, wrote a beautiful story Greul Pamantului, roughly translated to The Bearer of the Earth that has similar intent and structure to The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Without getting into too many details, at one point in the story, the main character, Caloian encounters a merchant of soil/earth that sell to people sacks of soil that originates from their birthland. These bags are meant to be buried with the purchasing party at their death that they may be warm in their grave.

Dreary stuff, but I have a point to my madness. Humor me.

Caloian ends up holding in his hand, by change, a sack of soil from his homeland and he feels it beating like a heart in his palm.

Today, I had a wealth of emotions passing through me, and I decided that I'll start some seeds via winter sowing to lift my mood. Essentially, I'm going to put some seeds in dirt, and then this dirt I will put in a transparent plastic container I saved from groceries, and finally, this container is to sit in the cold outside in the hopes that once the temperature increases, the seeds will germinate and sprout without me having to take care of them indoors.

I went to open the bag of dirt I bought two weeks ago in preparation for gardening season and once the smell of dirt hit me I was immediately transported to my childhood in the summertime. I put my hand inside the airy soil and squeezed it a bit, letting the formed dirt crumble back into powder as I released it from my grip. What a sensation of hope and wonder that dirt gave me. It was as if I felt the dirt beat like a heart in my hand, just like Caloian.

Soil is food. Food for the soul. I am very much looking forward to this growing season with joy!

Christ is in our midst! He is and ever shall be!