Disrupted Organisms

Digging in the dirt on hands and knees trying to remove every hint of nut grass from my garden beds, I review what I’m learning about soil organisms and the life beyond our sight 

I am studying the intricate interactions between protozoa, fungi, nematodes, bacteria and many other forms of life.

I read just enough to know that a whole community of 20,000 to 30,000 different species of bacteria live in every teaspoon of healthy soil. There are ten times that many other microscopic organisms sharing that same space.
They form a soil web with some feeding others and the waste from some providing nitrogen and nutrients for others and all working together to feed and protect the plant roots.
It’s an microrganism-eat-microorganism-world down there on the microscopic level!
It thrives and benefits the plants best when left undisturbed.
Here I am greatly disturbing their home. There is no other way that I can think of to prepare a weed-free, root-free habitat for my seeds or transplants.
I began thinking about disruptions in my own life—wondering if those unwanted times of upheaval had to occur. Was it God’s hands sifting through all that was good and thriving to rid my life of deep-rooted weeds (sins, idols, blind spots) with runners that grew new weeds and multiplied, choking out the good fruit bearing plants He wants to grow?
I sit back and look at the bucket full of weed roots. Some have a half a dozen attached runners, each with a nut in-between sustaining life if something cuts it off from the others.
It’s deeply satisfying to know a least these won’t be growing more problems. I know I will fortify the soil with additional communities of microbes from my compost to help re-establish all I messed up with my digging.
I smile. In every major upheaval in my life God faithfully re-established rich relationships, a broader reach, and deeper roots in His love.
Thank You, Father, Son, Holy Spirit.

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