“Be Good Soil.”


Tom Morris is a former University of Notre Dame philosophy professor who left to champion practical philosophy via books and seminars. He was one of 23 interviews that my partners Jeff Hamaoui and Skylar Skikos performed last spring around the subject of regeneration. The title of today’s post comes from Tom.

Our relationship with the earth can be summed up by what English economist Kate Raworth suggests is a vicious cycle: “take, make, use, lose.” In watching the documentary “Kiss the Ground” recently, I was struck by the idea that saving the nation’s soil might be comparable to saving our soul as well (and Jeff has helped me with this idea).

Soil is to dirt what soul is to debt. A drought—whether it’s due to external or internal weather—desiccates the land as well as mankind. The Biblical parable of the sower and the seed reminds us that growth only happens when we’ve properly prepared both the soil and our soul and when we haven’t added too much figurative (or literal) debt to our lives.

So, I ask you this morning, how can you “Be Good Soil” in your family and your community, such that you are a catalyst for growth and regeneration for everything and everyone around you?

Discover More Wisdom

July 27, 2021

One of the most prevalent name tags says, “I have Imposter Syndrome,” which is ...

The Hidden Upside of Imposter Syndrome.

December 18, 2020

The evolution of this company is inextricably connected to the ascension of this founder ...

Friday Book Club | Wisdom@Work: The Making of a Modern Elder.
{"email":"Email address invalid","url":"Website address invalid","required":"Required field missing"}

Choose Your Path to Midlife Mastery