Spiritual Composting- Three Ways to Amend Our Souls

From WildWiki

“Spiritual Composting: Three Ways To Amend Our Souls” College Meeting For Worship August 22, 2005

Let me be one of many who have welcomed you to Earlham over the past several days. But specifically, I would like to welcome you to College Meeting For Worship. This meeting, held each Sunday (or, as Quakers refer to it, every first day) is a unique and special part of Earlham and I hope that you will find it to be a place of renewal, community, and reflection throughout your years at Earlham.

I remember the first time I stepped foot in a Quaker meeting- it was the historic Germantown Friends Meeting in Philadelphia about fifteen years ago. I remember the distinct feeling of being at home in that place- the stillness, the simple power of the shared messages, and the intimate experience of direct, unmediated, worship. It is remarkable for me to think that that first experience, rather spontaneously wandering into a Quaker meeting, had led me to this place. This is my sixth year at Earlham and my ninth as a convinced member of the religious society of friends. It was my faith that led me here to Earlham and I remain so honored to work in a place that holds the life of the spirit up on the same plane with our social, intellectual, and physical lives. It is not without its challenges though. There are many competing interests here at Earlham. Ask most students and faculty how they are doing on any given day and the common reply is “good…I am really busy though.” While we like to think of Earlham as a place that holds to stronger and deeper values than that of modern culture in general, we cannot help but be influenced by, and be a reflection of, aspects of the modern world. The seemingly inexorable urge to fill our lives with “things to do” has clearly encroached upon this campus (like many others). Parker Palmer, the noted Quaker educator, on a visit to Earlham several years ago, warned us that small liberal arts campuses are coming to resemble the hum and activity of munitions factories rather than real places of reflective learning and scholarship. I think Earlham does a better job of holding on to the spirit and providing space for reflection than most college campuses do. But I also remain concerned that this culture of doing remains a clear and present danger not just to our lives here at Earlham but to our very notions of what it means to live a good life, and be an engaged citizen in the world. Contrary to the popular progressive notion, we do not “learn by doing.” We learn by reflecting on what we experience. John Dewey, perhaps our best American educational philosopher said, “Plato defined a slave as one who accepts from another the purposes which control his conduct. This condition obtains even when there is no slavery in the legal sense. It is found wherever men are engaged in activity which is socially serviceable, but whose service they do not understand and have no personal interest in” (Dewey, 1916, pg. 85). So, how do we avoid this condition of slavery created by over-activity? How do we, as George Fox suggests, walk “joyfully over this earth” and not race busily around instead? While Quakers often rely on queries to gently guide individuals toward a seeking of the truth, I have not chosen to do so here. Today, I present you with a one-word answer to the persistent question of how we strengthen our spiritual lives in the midst of the busyness and meaninglessness of modern society. That one word is… Compost.

I titled this message, “Spiritual Composting: Three Ways to Amend Our Souls.” This idea, as many of my ideas do, came from my work in the garden- a time of contemplative activity for me. My wife and I had just purchased a compost tumbler and I was reading the directions on how to make good compost. This was a revelation to me. Previously, we had just thought that compost was simply something that happened when you threw a bunch of organic matter into a pile. We had such a pile at our previous house and I threw just about anything on the pile (whole pumpkins, moldy cheese, tree branches, spoiled chicken breasts…) Then I sat and watched the pile, waiting for “compost” to happen. As the weeks went by and the summer heat kicked in I began to realize something was not quite right. There was a rather sharp stench, somewhat reminiscent of my daughters’ “special surprises” that we find in her diaper from time to time. Neighbors several doors down were closing their windows and rushing their children into the house from the car. Vultures began circling quite close to our backyard. Curious, I went outside and took a peek into the pile. What I saw there haunts me to this day. I’ll spare you the details as we are in mixed company but suffice it to say there was no “compost” there at all. Clearly, I needed to re-think my methods. As I read the directions for how to properly compost, the metaphor began to, pardon the pun, churn around in my mind. And the more I turned it over, the more I discovered in there. So, I have now come to believe that the principles of proper composting can help us all in amending (which is gardener speak for “improve”) our spiritual lives.

Principle One. For proper composting to happen, you must have the right balance of green matter (food scraps, vegetables, etc.) and brown matter (grass, leaves, lawn waste, etc.). Basically, the green stuff provides the nitrogen and the brown stuff provides the carbon and the aerobic microbes that break down the organic matter need both to do their work. Going too far one way or the other throws the whole process off. To quote my instruction manual, “a tumbler full of broccoli stalks will only produce a tumbler of broccoli stalks!” Balance of a different sort is also required of us here at Earlham. Balance between work and play; the mind, the body, and the spirit, and watching your total grease intake at Saga. Errors in any one of these areas can yield disastrous consequences. In thinking about balance, I am reminded of a favorite parable of mine. Tell rock story. What are your big rocks? Discerning these can go a long way to helping you maintain balance here at Earlham.

Principle Two. Besides the right balance, you must periodically turn your compost. This turning mixes the green and brown matter and oxygenates the pile, aiding in decomposition. Of course, your life at Earlham will also involve a variety of turns and upheavals. Rather than attempting to avoid them, celebrate them. I remember leading SWFS with my wife in 2003 and we were traveling through a very remote section of Mexico on the northwestern coast. We had left our trailer on the side of the dirt road to do a quick trip to the beach down a side road for a quick ecology lesson. On our return, we found our trailer tires slashed and our battery stolen. It was clear that the bandits had tried to break into the trailer and, finding it locked slashed the tires in the hopes that we would be unable to move it and thus, they could return that night to try again. The fear of being so vulnerable and helpless in an unknown place was very real for all of us at that moment. But then, something I will never forget happened. We circled up and held a moment of silence. In all of that chaos and fear, we came together as a group and held ourselves in the light. As it turned out, we sent for help in our other van and the local indigenous community we were trying to visit came out in force both to protect us that night and to replace our tires. But what I will never forget is how that misfortune brought our group together in a way that I think no other event could have. Someone once said, adventure is what happens when things don’t go according to plan. The word vacation, on the hand, comes from the word vacant, or, empty. I think all of us should pray for more adventures and less vacations. This notion of an “adventuresome spirit”- where obstacles, struggles, and upheavals are seen as challenges to be overcome is, I think, an important part of a healthy spiritual life. But this ought not be a singular or individual endeavor. Rather, we are often brought challenges that require us to ask for help. It is these moments that teach us humility and the strength of community.

Principle Three. This is perhaps the most important principle of all. After you have started a batch of compost, you must not add to it for awhile. Let the pile do its thing. If you keep adding more fresh matter, it will never completely break down enough for it to be useable. So, you have to let it sit. This, I believe, is also true in our educational and spiritual lives. One cognitive psychologist called this the “incubation” period. The brain needs time to do nothing so that we can process and make meaning out of the learning and experiences that we have. How many of us can simply “do nothing” without incurring the inward guilt of non-productivity? What does “doing nothing” really mean anyway? Perhaps it is not about doing or not doing at all. Maybe it has more to do with being rather than doing. Being present- allowing ourselves to engage our spirits, bodies, and minds in contemplative activity can renew our souls. Henry David Thoreau, in Walking, writes of the importance of this type of contemplative activity. “Of course it is of no use to direct our steps to the woods, if they do not carry us thither. I am alarmed when it happens that I have walked a mile into the woods bodily, without getting there in spirit… It sometimes happens that I cannot easily shake off the village. The thought of some work will run in my head and I am not where my body is- I am out of my senses.” Whether it be walking, or weaving, or praying, or swinging on the swing at the heart- don’t find yourself, as Thoreau warns, of not being where your body is. In a sense, I believe this is what is meant by the old Quaker warning of “not outrunning your guide.” Find ways to simply be and to listen to the still, small voice within.

Now, if you have done these things- balancing, turning, and letting sit- you will likely end up with an excellent batch of compost. But what now? The point of making compost in the first place is to use it. Compost improves the soil by adding necessary nutrients and controlling weed growth. And of course, the point of your studies here at Earlham (and your faith) is to be able to use them out in the world in some way or another. Bernard of Clairvoux once said, “Learn the lesson that, if you are to do the work of a prophet, what you need is not a scepter but a hoe.” How will you put your spiritual life into action here at Earlham? Parker Palmer reminds us to “let your life speak.” In my view, if we pay attention to the principles of composting- to maintaining a healthy balance in our lives, if we celebrate the challenges and upheavals with an adventuresome spirit, and if take the time to reflect and contemplate- than we truly will live out God’s will. The parable in Luke read by Matt at the beginning of our worship reminds us of what God asks of us. Those seeds that fall on rock or amongst the thorns will not grow. It is only that seed that falls on good ground that will bare fruit. Jesus says, “But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.” May all of us, as we stand at the beginning of a new school year and an exciting time of growth and learning, consider what it is we need to do to create that good ground. So that God’s word and leadings can help transform us and, in turn, the world in which we live.