Is God in My Compost?

      My gardening and green practices have earned me a reputation. I've been called crunchy and a tree hugger. I was once called an (gasp) environmentalist, and it wasn't meant as a compliment. A colleague once suggested that if I spent less time gardening I would have more time for my professional work. That, I took as an insult. What some might be surprised to know, however, is that my green living is really more of a spiritual practice.
    I belong to a Covenant Group in the Wesleyan tradition, and while I am not very good about practicing acts of devotion such as Bible reading and focused prayer, I choose spiritual practices such as communing with nature, meditation outdoors and contemplative presence. There is nowhere I feel more connected to God than out in my garden, pulling the weeds from my garden and from my soul. Since Earth Day also happens to fall on Good Friday this year, during Holy Week, I thought it was an appropriate time to share something I wrote for my church newsletter several years ago.

Is God In My Compost Pile?

              During Lent, a visiting pastor spoke at our church about the cycle of death and rebirth in nature each Spring, which symbolizes the dark, reflective time of Lent and the resurrection of Jesus at Easter.  After the service, I confessed to the pastor, “The only peace I’ve had this week was when I was turning my compost pile!”  The clean, earthy smell of decomposing leaves, grass and table scraps always invigorates me, as I think of the flavorful, organic fruits and vegetables I will harvest from my garden.

            Spring garden chores have continued to keep me busy, even as my thoughts have turned more contemplative.  Building my compost pile, I’ve decided, is much like building my faith.  See, the thing about compost is that in order to break down plants and other organic matter, you need the right ingredients.  Too much brown stuff like leaves and the pile doesn’t do much; too much green stuff like grass clippings and the pile heats up into a stinky, slimy mess. 

            If the brown stuff and the green stuff are added in good proportion though, the whole pile heats up to an amazing 120 degrees or more and the microorganisms begin to do their work.  But don’t think you can just sit back and wait.  When left alone for too long, the pile starts to cool down.  Unless you stir your compost, adding air and moisture to the organisms within, the pile will become cold and “passive.”  A properly tended compost pile, on the other hand, takes waste and turns it into life-nurturing food for plants.

            Composting symbolizes our spiritual growth, which is in part a process of deconstructing or breaking down the stuff of life that separates us from God.  If we give over all of our stuff (in good proportion) to God’s compost pile, we have begun the journey toward our new life.  As the journey continues, if we fail to reflect, to stir things over in our minds and hearts, and to turn over to God the elements of life that need to be broken down, then our spiritual lives become passive as well.

            Like being a Christian, composting is a discipline.  While I’ve always liked the idea of getting something for free, I don’t always have the energy for the strenuous process of turning my 64 cubic foot pile.  Similarly, the process of spiritual growth sometimes feels inconvenient because it is a lot of hard work.  Why can’t I just turn everything over to God and be done with it!

            Perhaps the reward is in the process.  As the waste of our lives is added to our spiritual pile, the old worries break down, become unrecognizable and become the fertilizer that nurtures us.  Every mistake, every trial, every hurt we add after that is likewise transformed through God and only adds to the richness of our faith.  God IS in my compost pile!