April 2009

A Shovel Full of Earth

A few shovel fulls
of earth
await humbly.
Dark brown as only
earth can be—
dug from the fragrant depths.

How shall we live
this life?
And isn’t it
much grander
than this in the end?

No—the splendor
is right here,
in the dirt,
in the soil
that can grow
all we need
miraculously
and without fanfare.
With or without us,
it nourishes life
verdantly.

And so
I shall go, in time, as all
go
and greet
this sustaining
earth
with gratitude
and pray I
am worthy
and have served
her well.

by Melitta Haslund, consulting minister, Unitarian Society of Santa Barbara, from For All That Is Our Life, a meditation anthology edited by Gene and Helen Pickett, published by Skinner House in 2005. This book is available from the CLF library.