GREAT SOILS (SOULS) IN EDUCATION
May 25, 2021
Prayer: God, add to the parents, students, and staff members’ lives what you need to make us all great fertile souls in the Garden of Education. Amen.
Scriptures: How is the soil? Is it fertile or poor? Are there trees in it or not? Do your best to bring back some of the fruit of the land. Num. 13:20
I [Jesus] am the true vine, and my Father [God] is the gardener. John 15:1
Every gardener knows great gardens begin with great soils. Every educator knows that great classrooms and schools begin with great souls. Reflect and name three great souls you have encountered in education, as either a student or an educator. What made them great souls? How did they impact others’ lives? God wants to make us all great souls in the garden of education.
When I began gardening, my first job was to build good soil. Great soils are made by adding things to them. The native soil of my backyard was a thin layer of topsoil with dense clay subsoil beneath it. Roots could not easily grow and water could not easily soak into this soil. It contained no earthworms which are God’s signs of great soils.
With a close friend and the help of many others, I added seven primary ingredients: topsoil, animal manures, leaves, grass clippings, alfalfa, organic kitchen scraps, and Microlife, a commercial organic fertilizer which contains ingredients such as bat guano, bone meal, potash, cornmeal and molasses. The final ingredient I added was patience. After six years, the garden now has deep, rich, fertile soil. With almost every spade of soil I turn over, I find an earthworm. Flowers, vegetables, fruits, and weeds (if I let them) all thrive.
Jesus tells us that God is a gardener (John 15:1). Our native souls have a thin top layer of selflessness with a subsoil of dense clay selfishness into which the roots of God’s love and truth don’t easily grow, and living water does not easily flow. In order to make our souls great, God adds things. He adds seven primary ingredients: inspired literature — the Bible, His still small voice within us, nature, challenging circumstances, dreams/visions, prophetic words, and the wise counsel of others. To all of this He adds his incredible patience.
God wants to make every one of us: parents, students, and our co-workers into great souls. He needs help. We are each a different part of His body in education, and we need to get spiritually connected with one another. He has planted us in education to grow, bloom, and bear fruit for Him, to be a part of an incredible life-transforming, beautiful garden. We cannot tend this garden alone. It’s time to find friends at the school where we work, and start adding things to our professional lives, the lives of co-workers, and the lives of students to enrich our souls. It can be done. All things are possible with our gardener, God.
Reflection: Who are three great souls I have met in education? What made them great and how did they impact lives?
Getting Real: Find co-workers who want to enrich their souls at school. Start an Encouragement (Bible, share, care, and prayer) Group.
Copyright Don Clark. Email [email protected]