The Soil That Holds Our Stories

Photo by Genrose Campasas, taken on June 15, 2025

    I love taking pictures when traveling, especially by road, and this is one of those moments, captured on our way from Negros Occidental to Negros Oriental after my graduation. I no longer recall the exact city from where it was taken, but I remember it was somewhere along that route.

    Long road trips have a way of keeping our minds busy. For me, they happen when we travel to Negros, my hometown. The trip takes 4 to 5 hours before we even reach the port. I may have stayed awake all night before, but I choose not to sleep on the road. Part of it is the simple desire to be aware of my surroundings for safety. And part of it is to watch the changing views, wanting to see the fields, the trees, and the way the sunlight changes as the day moves along, and of course, take photos.

    It is usually the trees that catch my eyes first. But it is the soil that holds them that always catches me off guard. The surface changes over time through weather, farming, and the slow work of nature, yet much of what lies deeper has been here for centuries. People have walked on it, worked on it, and left parts of their lives here. Perhaps some of what is under us has been touched, directly or indirectly, by people from long ago. I sometimes wonder who they were. Did they know the Lord? Did they ever hear His name, or feel the weight of His words when they were spoken? I think about those who are alive now, and those who will walk here long after I am gone. Will they hear the gospel and believe?

    The Earth feels so old and so wide when we think about it like this. And yet, one day, it will be gone. The Bible tells us that “the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up” (2 Pet 3:10 NKJV), and that God will make a new heaven and a new earth (Rev 21:1). The soil we stand on will not last, but the promise of God will.

    It makes me think about how short our time is here. We came from dust, and we will return to it (Gen 3:19). But in Christ, there is life that will never end. Every generation that ever stepped on this soil needed Him, just as we do now, and just as the next will.

    Perhaps we could use the time we have to plant seeds that will grow long after we are gone, not seeds in the ground, but in the hearts of people. Because one day, the soil will pass away, but the souls who belong to Him will be with Him forever.