In the beginning, God made a garden, rich with compost and humus, a black loam that smelled of dawn. Seeds began sprouting in this soil; trees’ roots wound deep within it as their branches reached toward the sun; grass, clover, and forbs of every kind spread over the earth in a green and golden carpet. God took some of this dirt, made muddy with dew, and formed a creature from it—a body of soil. Bending down, God breathed spirit, animus, into the earth so that it became an animal—a living thing. And God gave this animal something different from the others—a purpose, a call, an invitation to join God in moving the creation toward its flourishing. God put this humus-man, this human, in the garden and gave it a call—a vocation. God put the human in a place cultivated toward its fullness—a garden—and called the human to “cultivate it and keep it” (Genesis 2:15), to bring it to life and yet to respect its integrity.
