Going back to what Pastor Seth Dahl shared regarding “Good Soil” (as mentioned in my previous Feb. 4th post), I was really blown away by his insights drawn from the “how-to’s” of making good soil based on the documentary, “Back to Eden” (see http://backtoedenfilm.com/).
Basically, the idea is to mimic what happens naturally in a forest, even in the midst of a drought, because even when there is no rain, and through storms and multiple changing of seasons, the soil remains protected, super moist and nutrient- rich.
What is the secret to mimicking the forest soil? Good Covering.
For a garden, this means covering the ground with 5 or so layers of newspaper, which help to “kill” any weeds, and, I think, to “carry/hold” the “covering” of wood chips that we then layer on top until it is good and covered. The wood chips act as a protective layer, suffocating grasses and weeds, nourishing the soil as it naturally breaks down into “compost” that transforms the soil, and ensuring that the soil gets enough (but not too much) water.
Quote from website:
“Here is the incredible thing about God and His design, when there is too much water the wood chips displace it and when there is not enough, the wood chips retain it.” – Paul Gautschi
All the benefits of using Good Covering sounds almost like one of those too-good-to-be-true schemes trying to get us to pay out money, but the theory behind it makes a LOT of sense (and this website offers the film to be viewed online for free =)!). Go to any wooded area and take a closer look at the soil. Pastor Seth tried it personally in his garden so he could testify to seeing his normally dry, cracked soil transformed. (I can’t wait to test this in my own yard this year once I have the time to attack my backyard for spring!) .
Over the last three years, I have had the amazing experience of coming under the supernaturally anointed counseling and “covering” of Pastor Dave Pak at my Church (New Joy Community Church in Richmond, B.C.), and for the first time, I began experiencing what it’s like to really feel understood and helped and guided in my journey towards inner healing and breakthrough…and I have begun learning how to be able to open up more fully and trust the people in my life who are close to me to be able to really love me.
While I had experienced significant levels of healing and breakthrough previously (perhaps one day soon I will try and summarize a timeline/outline of my healing journey), it was always more or less me trying to make use of different resources, books, conferences, counseling, or whatever I could find around me, and trying to analyze, apply and process everything on my own. And being “on my own” (or rather, not knowing how to process not on my own) was–inherent to the method–extremely lonely and alienating.
Still, what degrees of healing I had before also came by the degrees of covering I was able and ready to experience before as well – I had learned how to be covered by God (because of course God is trustworthy, and can understand me and love me and help me), and also how to let my handful of amazing friends to help me and protect me (to pray for me, give me a shoulder to cry on, talk things out, sometimes even house me) and be there for me as much as I knew how to let them in…
In the end, I believe there are certain levels of breakthrough that God simply never intended for us to be able to “master” on our own – especially for things like loneliness, and the ability to trust – because there are certain core needs that are relational in nature and therefore can only be met through the presence of someone in our lives who we believe are safe and capable enough, who can and want to understand the deeper things going on in our hearts, that we can begin to more openly share, lean on and learn to trust.
When we find good covering for our hearts – and when we prioritize seeking it over our natural instinct to stick to ourselves and retreat because it’s too scary to try to trust someone with our secrets — transformation in our hearts becomes possible just like how soil becomes “good” in a way that no other means (super hard work, use of chemicals, etc.) can ever truly recreate.