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 Mission, Meaning, and Purpose of Soil to Soul Initiative

 

The Mission of the Soil to Soul Initiative, working from the biblical worldview, is to help teenagers and post high school students transition into adulthood.

Therefore, the primary objective is to help young men and women experience human flourishing and fullness of life necessary for the preservation and welfare of themselves, their family and their future families.

 

This initiative is not intended to be a quick fix but an important step towards discovering the truth, goodness, and beauty of God’s greatest creation. 

 The name Soil to Soul is inspired by God’s Creation story found in Genesis.

After God made the earth and the heavens he formed man from the soil of the ground.  God blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and then man became a living being – both with a physical nature and a spiritual nature. 

 

God, out of love, created man in His image and likeness as male and female and said to them be fertile and multiply and be good stewards over all the earth. 

 Being a good steward means caring for something that does not belong to us. So therefore, all that we have is a gift from God and we are to work and care for it, including but not limited to the soil, plants, animals, our physical bodies and our souls.

 

Figuratively speaking, in the seven-day creation account, God teaches us to direct all of our work to Him the first six days and on day seven we are to rest and to be in right relationship with Him – to worship Him. 

 Literally speaking, the beauty of the Creation Story and its lesson is that when we get the seven days right we live a more joyful life, not without hardships, but we are better prepared to deal with them as the nature of suffering itself is a gift.

 However, the opposite is true as well. When we live the Creation Story in the manner of rest the first six days, then the seventh day is not one of rest and worship but one of more pleasure - living in the ego drama. 

 Too much rest in this narrative has a propensity to lead us away from being a good steward of God’s creation, including gift of life. This is one of the primary reasons why teenagers and post high school students are not successfully transitioning to adulthood.

  

Rest in this context can be described in various forms.

 Too much screen time is an obvious example.

 In addition, and broadly speaking, something and or anything that takes away from a son or daughter not willing to participate in Mass or church, help with household chores and or participate in their home economy could be described as too much rest - which leads to apathy.

 

Understanding and participating in God’s Creation story is the beginning of the S2S Initiative. 

Working the soil will help teach this age group the value and connection of where their food and shelter comes from and the hard work necessary to provide the very basics of life. 

Genesis teaches us that life starts from the soil and in death our physical bodies return to the soil. 

 

The work we do in between new life and death, all directed to God, prepares the soil of our soul to receive the Living Word of God in a way that nourishes our immortal soul to be in right relationship with our Savior. 

 The intrinsic value of work that contributes to the needs of the family builds humility and gratitude in a young person that opens the door to adulthood. 

The root meaning of humility is being grounded, being from the earth. To be humble, is acknowledging that God is the author of all good and becomes a defense against pride.

 

To be grateful is simply to be thankful for all that we have - because all we have is a gift from God. 

 The S2S classroom starts in the soil and works its way up to the soul.

 “Work” can be defined as a sacrifice of the present for something to be gained in the future.  The intrinsic beauty of meaningful and purposeful work as God intended, is that it transitions to something closer to play.

This becomes clear as work becomes a gift that supports our families, local community and provides support for the least among us. It is here that work becomes play. 

 

Addressing the lack of - or improper transition into adulthood in the context of the overwhelming trend of apathy, anxiety, despair, addictions, and suicide that this age group faces today is at the very heart of this initiative. 

 With that, Christian faith formation from the Catholic Tradition is the cornerstone of S2S.

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 Meaning, each breath of each day is a gift from God. And how we learn, work, and live each day in community as family is a response to this gift called Grace. Therefore, our proper daily response should be continuous prayers of gratitude. 

 Skill sets such as critical thinking and objective reasoning will be practiced each day and further developed by reinforcing the importance of living a virtuous life. 

The Theological Virtues of Faith, Hope, and Charity along with the Cardinal Virtues of Prudence, Temperance, Fortitude, and Justice will be integrated into the curriculum.

 

The meaning and purpose of our learning and working at the S2S is directed towards building and supporting the family and community with intentionality and skill set development towards private ownership of property and means of production which supports a resilient home economy. 

 

The varied and broad experiences gained from S2S will open new and purposeful pathways leading to a willful wonder for learning. On the job training, vocational and technical training, and or college becomes a desirable and logical next step in the student’s education. 

 All of which opens the door to living the adventure of the Theo Drama – by doing God’s will. Which supports the Sacrament of Marriage and children, the fruits of God’s creation and His Covenant Relationship with man. In a unique way, the S2S Initiative and the mythology used will provide fertile ground for our students who are discerning the religious life.

 S2S will do this by providing hands-on experience and spiritual, intellectual, emotional and physical guidance. 

Each of the different curriculum options listed below will follow the “See 1, Do 1, and Teach 1” methodology. 

 

Failure, by the very nature of this approach, becomes a tremendous teacher as we continually strive to be life time learners by starting and finishing daily tasks.

 The S2S Curriculum is designed for full engagement by each student which will require complete participation and accountability on their part.

 The S2S is an independent self-funded program that desires to partner with families, schools, and our Church communities.

 

Fees and or tuition will be determined based on individual needs of each entity and the type of curriculum that best addresses the identified needs.

 The foundation of the S2S curriculum is built on the following Four Main Questions while examining and experiencing each of them from the biblical worldview.

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  1.Who am I?

  2.What is the meaning of my life?

  3.To what end do I do what I do?

  4.What is my highest good?

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 Participatory learning by each student will be rooted in the apostolic proclamation of salvation through Jesus Christ.

 It is through the lens of the 4 components of the Kerygma that the S2S students will experience life from the biblical world view.

 

The 4 Components are as follows:

 1.Created – The goodness of creation: Why is there something rather than nothing?

 2.Captured – Sin and its consequences: Why is everything so obviously messed up?

  3.Rescued – God’s response to our sin: What if anything, has God done about it?

  4.Response – Our response to what God has done for us: If God has done something, how should I respond?              

 

 (Fr. John Riccardo Book Rescued)

 

Unique components of the Soil to Soul Curriculum at the TRJ Ranch

 S2S will teach safe practices and basic skill set development in the following areas.

The plan is to be able to do each of the proposed curriculum individually and or group them together based on the needs. 

S2S Initiative understands that this will be, for the most part, the first time the students will be exposed to this type of learning environment and by design differs from a traditional classroom setting.

 

Our goal with each component of the curriculum is that S2S becomes a starting point for each student to discover something new and tangible that awakens new experiences, learned behavior, and skill set developments.  All of which will provide meaning and purpose to their lives.