“…I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” – John 12:24, RSV

Detritus, by definition in ecology, is non-living, organic material – such as fallen leaves, insect bodies, scat – that is decaying but has not yet broken down into microscopic particles. Take a walk off-trail in a forest and you are likely tromping over detritus. Through the process of photosynthesis (the conversion of light energy into plant matter), trees take in nutrients from the soil and air to produce plant material during the spring and summer. In the fall, when the leaves are no longer needed, the process is halted and leaves are dropped from the tree.

Bacteria, fungi, and small animals break down leaves after they fall to the ground into smaller and smaller pieces. The breakdown process continues to the microscopic level, when carbon and other nutrients are released into the soil or air. These elements are subsequently taken up by other plants and used to create new growth.

The process of carbon and nutrients being used and then released and taken up again is a cyclical process of energy and matter transformation. A forest may look the same from day to day and year to year when looking at it from afar, but up close, change is always occurring. Nature is constantly renewing itself and recycling materials no longer needed in its current form, allowing it to change into a useful and life-giving substance. The process of letting go, death, renewal, and growth is continuous.

We would probably benefit from such a process as well – to eliminate what is no longer life-giving (death) and transform ourselves bit by bit, incorporating useful and renewing practices into our daily lives. Letting go of things no longer serving us, allowing them to be opportunities for renewal that blossom into growth.

Change is hard, but it can be practiced and something brought about by concerted effort. Letting go, renewal, and growth often call for change of some sort. Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all call for a daily attention to prayer and/or meditation. Jesus is quoted as saying take up your cross daily. These practices lend to the importance of daily, repeated attention to letting go of what is not useful to our soul and facilitating the growth of what is life-giving or soul-feeding.