"Seek the beginnings;learn from whence you came,and know the various earth of which you were made." Edwin Muir, The Journey Back

I subscribe to a podcast created by a young man who travels and tells fascinating information about Ireland. Once a week an hour show of interesting people, music and tales of the Emerald Isle shows up on my ipod. This past week's broadcast was of particular interest.The show was called the Auld Sod. It was an interview with an Irishman who has found a great way to make a living: selling Irish dirt to Americans.

At first the idea made me laugh. But when I listened further to the stories of people who had left the land they loved to come to this country, those who had not returned, or if they had for only a short visit, who were able to touch and smell the dirt they held dear, my laughter turned to something else. There was a poignancy in these stories of people longing to once again touch the soil they had known made my heart swell.

The entrepreneur who had was marketing this soil told of the many people who wanted the soil to scatter at the graveside of their mother, father or grandparent. Others purchased the soil to plant a shamrock plant or add to the ground where a baptismal tree was planted. Still others kept the dirt in a prominent place where they could see it, touch it and smell it, anytime they wanted to remember.

We all have earth….soil…from which we came. I remember the first time I went to Wales, the land of my ancestors. There was some odd and yet wonderful feeling of having been there before, a sort of 'coming home' remembrance. Have you had this experience?

Even if it is not the faraway land of our ancestors, we each have those places on the planet that we recognize as the soil from which we have sprung. It could be the family farm or the lake cabin. It could be the pavement of the inner city or the silence of a grove of trees. We know this 'soil' because it has made its way into our worldview, shaped it, shaped us, and provides the lens through which we see everything. We know it because when we are not in touch with this earthiness that is in our DNA, we feel off, not quite ourselves.

What earth shaped you? From what soil did you spring? Today might be as good a day as any to take stock, to remember, to seek the beginnings that shaped our life's path. And once we've named the various earth form which we've sprung, it is probably the right and fitting thing to do to offer our gratitude.

It is good to thank God for dirt!