Last night my daughter and I transplanted lettuce that we’d bought a few days ago. The lettuce was wilting, small and so dry in the little container they had come in from the nursery.

I really didn’t think they were going to make it.

So imagine my amazement when I went to check on the lettuce this morning -12 hours later!- and the picture below is what I saw.

It hit me like a bolt of lightning what the power of healthy, good soil can do. It really is the only difference in the life of that lettuce.

Soil in human terms is our environment, our systems, our fundamentals.

As I am watching what is happening in the world these days, quietly listening and learning this is what I would like to contribute.

The soil of our society as it is currently construed benefits only certain segments and often to the detriment of others. That is the system as it is set up and this is what people in the Black Lives Matter and civil rights movements for decades have been trying to teach us all. Change the soil with the right nutrients, and everyone has a real opportunity to thrive.

How the police treat black Americans is just one example of many about how the soil needs to change for that thriving to happen. It is rooted in every sector of the system.

But the more people we can get on board to enact that meaningful change, to be in favor of it, to get educated, to donate, to get out and make voices heard, to listen to the stories from the mouths and words of the people directly affected by this broken system then the greater the opportunity.

To infuse the system and the soil with the right kind of nutrients so that we all have equal opportunity to prosper and live a life in peace, in love, in light.

One last point to add is how fear holds us back from doing what we know is right in our hearts.

That’s where the power of the soil can also be applied to our own lives. Our practices, our choices throughout the day.

Meditate, breathe, eat well, connect, touch, be touched so that we can transplant the seeds of our hearts into healthy soil. Yes, it feels uncomfortable going through growth and facing fears, but it is temporary. The results of being transplanted into that healthier soil, well, that’s priceless.

For our lives, for our loved ones, our communities and the world we want to see made real in our lifetime.