Mean as Dirt

Do you know that expression "mean as dirt?" How did dirt get such a tough reputation?|This coming Sunday will be our third in Creation Time 2012 and the theme will be earth --dirt. We tend to think of dirt as, well, dirt. It doesn't occur to us that earth needs to be healthy and alive with microbes and bacteria for other living things to thrive in it.

The earth and the land are very important themes in scripture and rightly so. When dirt "dies" it is good for nothing. And soil which has been mistreated by certain forms of agriculture and erosion requires increasing applications of chemicals to make it a viable growing culture. Should the expression should be "mean as humans" because it is our often destructive practices which deplete and compromise the health of soil?

We can do better and why wouldn't we, knowing that we are groundlings or earthlings ourselves, according to scripture and our basic composition. In the end we are all composted and return to the soil, so we should start early in making friends with our hosts.

Any earthy observations? Made a mud pie lately?