A Grave Situation

The earth has a way of absorbing a variety of things. Rain is absorbed by the earth and transported through millions of tiny pores into underground aquifers. Chemicals such as pesticides, oil leaks, and other toxins move in the same way through the pores of the earth.

But liquids aren't the only things that disappear into the earth. Any dead organism, within time, will slowly be broken down into smaller and smaller pieces until it has been separated into tiny molecular compounds. It will no longer be recognizable as the organism it once was, but it's individual elements cycle through the environment, traveling through the earth and into the plants that cover the earth, eventually reaching the innards of the animals that eat the prolific plants. It is strange to think that the food that fuels me today, has a molecular structure made of elements that have been around since the beginning of time. The elements of ancient plants and animals. That's the amazing reality of it.

In a few weeks, the Billings MCC members will be volunteering for a community-wide compassion weekend (sponsored by a local church), where over 2,000 volunteers will come together in an effort to meet the many needs of the people and businesses of our city. There are over twenty projects that one can sign up for, ranging from tearing out old park playground equipment to providing handyman help to mobile home courts. We have chosen the Mountview Cemetery Project. 300 volunteers are needed to counteract the absorbing property of the earth here in Mountview. The graves are sinking slowly and steadily, moving deeper into the earth. Our job will be to cart loads of soil to individual grave plots and level each one using shovels and rakes.

Counteracting the natural processes of the earth has never turned out quite right for the humans that inhabit it. But alas, we shall try once more.