A favorite author says it well.
"God empties Godself into creation, and then we humans spend most of history creating systems to control and subdue that creation for our own purpose and profit, reversing the divine pattern." (Richard Rohr).
To control and subdue creation is like trying to control and subdue God. It can't be done. Not without a huge price to pay to the wellbeing of creation and all depending on it. Controlling and subduing only ends up making a mess of the life-giving work of the divine pattern and alienating ourselves from God.
But a new vision of history is emerging for humanity in this age of global warming and other environmental crises. And that vision, as old as the first "God said", is union with the divine pattern of Godself.
The divine pattern is perhaps best described by science as the water cycle, nutrient cycle and energy flow, those natural processes constantly attending life, death and resurrection throughout the earth. My task is to begin where I live, right here in Spokane, Washington, U.S.A. - to join these natural flows and cycles as Gods' creative movement of life itself. And so my alignment with God-emptied-into-creation begins now, in this rain, this Fall, a time when leaves can either create a waste problem and be a chore to be done with gritted teeth, or a time when those leaves covering the lawn become an opportunity to feed soil and soul.
Soil. Harvesting the leaves to make compost rather than carting them off as waste to the dump, will mean harvesting a whole season's worth of nutrients which can fertilize the soil of my Jerusalem cross raised beds. Healthy soils will mean healthy vegetables, will mean a healthy Roger and Carla. Spurning such a gift would be like spurning love itself, wasting God. I don't want to do that anymore. And so I begin. My first step is to harvest the leaves in as simple a way as possible. Turns out the lawn mower is perfect as a tool most of us already have.
An added benefit of the lawn mower is that it does a wonderful job of shredding the leaves and also mixing them with the grass clippings, helping with an appropriate ratio of carbon to nitrogen to enable the composting process. (See photo on right).
Then it's a simple step to add the season's bounty of shredded leaf mulch and grass clippings to a growing compost pile. I will cover the pile with a tarpaulin to protect it from too much rain and then watch the nutrient cycle of Godself as the rich, fertile soil emerges for my Jerusalem cross raised beds.
Soul. God really does empty Godself into creation every Fall, and this in a kaleidoscope of beauty and color carpeting the green lawn. There God lies in all Gods' autumn splendor, waiting to be harvested as part of the divine pattern of self-giving love.
Falling into Fall this year it feels like I'm falling into a carpeted splendor - the splendor of love that promises healing for soil and soul. And all the world.
