Remember that you are humus<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Ash, you should know, is a great source of phosphorus and potassium\u2014two members of the essential soil chemical triad of Nitrogen-Phosphorous-Potassium\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/soulwod\/2013\/02\/remember-that-you-are-but-humus\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Remember that you are humus\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ash, you should know, is a great source of phosphorus and potassium\u2014two members of the essential soil chemical triad of Nitrogen-Phosphorous-Potassium\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/soulwod\/2013\/02\/remember-that-you-are-but-humus\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Word + Flesh\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-02-13T12:42:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-02-13T12:50:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/213\/2013\/02\/320px-Soil.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"320\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"240\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ragan Sutterfield\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ragan Sutterfield\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/soulwod\/2013\/02\/remember-that-you-are-but-humus\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/soulwod\/2013\/02\/remember-that-you-are-but-humus\/\",\"name\":\"Remember that you are humus\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/soulwod\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-02-13T12:42:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-02-13T12:50:22+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/soulwod\/#\/schema\/person\/9af0d931558adda7ab23572587c98aa3\"},\"description\":\"Ash, you should know, is a great source of phosphorus and potassium\u2014two members of the essential soil chemical triad of Nitrogen-Phosphorous-Potassium\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/soulwod\/2013\/02\/remember-that-you-are-but-humus\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/soulwod\/2013\/02\/remember-that-you-are-but-humus\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/soulwod\/2013\/02\/remember-that-you-are-but-humus\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/soulwod\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Remember that you are humus\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/soulwod\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/soulwod\/\",\"name\":\"Word + Flesh\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/soulwod\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/soulwod\/#\/schema\/person\/9af0d931558adda7ab23572587c98aa3\",\"name\":\"Ragan Sutterfield\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/soulwod\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e7fea9423b5f5eea57387f8dffb7f4ff?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e7fea9423b5f5eea57387f8dffb7f4ff?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Ragan Sutterfield\"},\"description\":\"Ragan Sutterfield is a writer and Episcopal seminarian sojourning from his native Arkansas in Alexandria, Virginia. 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{"id":1180,"date":"2013-02-13T05:42:43","date_gmt":"2013-02-13T12:42:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/soulwod\/?p=1180"},"modified":"2013-02-13T05:50:22","modified_gmt":"2013-02-13T12:50:22","slug":"remember-that-you-are-but-humus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/soulwod\/2013\/02\/remember-that-you-are-but-humus\/","title":{"rendered":"Remember that you are humus"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

$\"\"$ <\/a>Ash, you should know, is a great source of phosphorus and potassium\u2014two members of the essential soil chemical triad of Nitrogen-Phosphorous-Potassium (N-P-K).\u00a0 We should remember this as we go into Ash Wednesday, a solemn day in which we meditate on our mortality and finitude.\u00a0 In thinking of our death we must also recognize that our mortality is tied to the nutrient cycles of the earth, that our bodies are a source of new life.<\/p>\n

As Ashes are imposed in the sign of the cross on our forehead the priest says some variation of \u201cRemember that you are dust and to dust you will return.\u201d\u00a0 This scripture is tied to the Genesis story of Adam\u2019s creation from the \u201cdust of the ground\u201d (Gen. 2:7).\u00a0 The ground of Genesis 2 is not just lifeless dirt (erets<\/em>), but is adamah<\/em>\u2014productive, life giving soil; compost rich, humus soil.\u00a0 We could just as easily say, \u201cRemember that you are humus and to humus you will return.\u201d<\/p>\n

So this Ash Wednesday, after you have gone up and received the black mark of mortality on your forehead, ask your priest if you can have any of the leftover ashes.\u00a0 Tell her you need them to grow a beautiful garden later in the spring, sometime around Easter.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"