AS AN AVID GARDENER, I was so happy to come across a local garden group on Facebook early in the pandemic last year. What a blessing to have a like-minded group where I can ask questions, offer advice, and share garden joys. These days the Facebook feed is filled with folks anxious to get seedlings and plants into the ground and gardeners willing to share plants, cuttings, tools, and more.
One such post stopped me short.
“Totally overestimated my soul needs. This is half and half compost/garden soil, already mixed. Help yourself [address listed].” A photo of a big pile of compost/garden soil accompanied the post.
You’ve figured it out. The original post included a typo. The gardener meant to write “soil,” but “soul” appeared instead. That got me thinking about our soul needs. What are they? Do we ever overestimate our soul needs? Given human nature, I’m guessing we’re more likely to underestimate them.
tend to your soul
As Christian women, we can tend to our souls by
- communicating regularly with God, the Creator, in prayer,
- living in community with other Christians,
- regularly worshipping God,
- immersing ourselves in God’s Word,
- spending time in God’s good creation, and
- recharging our soul through quiet contemplation and meditation.
These are the basics, the foundations of our faith. They are essential to our life of faith, and yet sometimes we just get so caught up in other things that we don’t attend to these. What does your soul need these days as we live into the second year of this pandemic?
Given our circumstances, we might have other soul needs. We may need the support of our community when going through a difficult medical situation. We might need members of the community to remind us to keep the Sabbath. Others in the community may need to offer prayers for us when we cannot do that ourselves.
As you work in your gardens this spring, don’t forget to consider your soul needs too. They need tending as much as the flowers and vegetables you’re planting.
Linda Post Bushkofsky is executive director for Women of the ELCA. Consider tending to your soul by downloading one of our free resources.