Dirt is Holy

Dirt is just dirt.  Dirt can make you dirty.  When I was a kid running and playing, I brought more than my share of dirt in the house to be washed down the bathtub drain.  But, getting dirty is not really something experienced much anymore by young participants of organized play, nor is it something which happens in the white shirt world where all the important stuff happens.  Dirt is something to be distained, avoided, and washed away.  It is just dirt and it makes you dirty.

 

So, who would have thought that Jesus would have handled dirt with the care given to consecrated and prayed over healing oils?  It must have been quite a surprise to the man known as "the man born blind" whose healing is set forth in the ninth chapter of John.  Verse 5 and 6 paint the picture filled with dirt.  "...'I am the light of the world.'  When He had said this, He spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and put the mud on the man's eyes..."  Oil is often spoken of in the Scripture as something which is useful for healing and acts of consecration.  It is on the list of things which are holy.  But, not dirt.  Dirt is dirt.  Dirt is dirty, not holy.

 

But, Jesus reminds us through this act of healing that dirt is holy.  The dirt we hold in our hands (which, of course, is something we never do) is as holy as the healing oil.  Dirt was created by God.  Dig a hole, put in a seed, cover it up and a womb is made ready to bring forth life.  Who is to say dirt with this creative power given to it by the Creator who made it is not holy? Indeed, it is.  God made it holy through creation.  Jesus affirmed it as holy by making it an instrument of healing.  Dirt is not just dirty, it is holy.  And, if the dirt beneath our feet is indeed holy, do we walk anywhere and see anything which cannot be perceived and known and experienced as holy?  We just need to walk with open eyes and allow the dirt to be felt with bare feet as we walk on what is truly holy ground.