Do you think you’re smarter than dirt, well, just follow me in this column and you will chuckle at how much our hearts and minds are like dirt and will flourish or rot. Our choice what to put in on a daily basis.

If you think about it, dirt is where things are planted in a garden or a lawn, or anywhere where you want to plant things. Sometimes we have to clear the dirt of rocks, weeds or anything that would block the plants or seeds you want to grow in your heart and life.

There are so many different kinds of dirt or soil depending on the region you live in, or even country. This is evident by vineyards and different types of grapes and how that affects the fruit in taste and color, critical for growing grapes for wine.

The ground might need nutrients or food before planting. We had a friend on a farm in Washington state who grew wonderful corn. Her ears of corn were so heavy and bright yellow, we asked her what she did to prepare her soil before planting and she showed us her pigs that she corralled and watered in that area. They jumped around, rooting up unwanted rocks, all the time fertilizing, causing an amazing area for her corn rows that grew many, stalks for eating enjoyment and she froze bags of corn that tasted like fresh vegetables when cooked, all year long. She knew how to prepare, work it, water and harvest.

Our hearts are soil where we plant so many ideas, thoughts and, unfortunately, fears and imaginative worries and we don’t realize what we’re doing. Why not be good, productive, heart-soil, that will produce peaceful, forgiving and healthy actions?

First we hear so many things, all day long, all of our lives, then we think about that in our brain, letting them travel the 12 inches down to our hearts as they sink in and begin to grow. I love the scripture in Mark 4, “The Parable of the Sower,” where Jesus said in verse 24 to “Consider carefully what you hear…” So, let’s be picky about what we let go in our ears, amen?

Dirt  grows whatever is put in it. A wooden fence post will eventually rot down in the dirt as it grows old and weary, or it will grow, magnificent trees and plants that come back every year and abound.

If our hearts are open to receive and we are in charge of the Scriptures we can freely read and see how to have eternal things that will not rot. Let’s choose those ones that are filled with life and abundance and be smarter than dirt.

Kathie Deasy writes about faith for The Port Arthur News.