Mulch: almost as inspiring as compost

I had a revelation about mulch, but it didn't come from the garden. It came from a prayer meeting I was in with the school staff. I've been subconsciously trying to discover an all inclusive garden metaphor to discipleship in the context of the school that's happening. (It's reminding me of when I spent 3 weeks trying to piece together Einsteins theories of Special and General Relativity).

As an existentialist, I need to be able to see the whole picture of something before I'm comfortable and willing to share it. Not just how it works, but the history of it from B.C. to today, how it has evolved, and then analyze it based on what I found.

So with the garden analogy, I was stoked when this piece of the picture showed up. I had by this time already figured out that the students are the soil, God is the gardener who plants righteousness, justice, praise, and many other fun things. (Isa 61:11). But I wasn't sure who the disciplers/staff were (gardenwise that is).

Then it hit me that we are the mulch. We aren't the gardeners, we're not the seeds, we're not the water, we're not the soil. We're the mulch. We cover the soil, hold water longer, keep weeds out, and over time give some nutrients to the soil as well. In plain terms, we set a safe atmosphere for soil.

The practical issues I've run into with mulch thus far have been not having enough and spreading it too thin.

The first problem I'm finding is just reality. You can only cover a certain amount of ground with mulch. That forces me to focus on a smaller area that is within my abilities, rather than the huge garden I dream of.

The second is based around the first, but is the true problem that I've had in my greed for a bigger garden. The first time I laid mulch I tried to cover this large area and instead of doing a full 4 to 6 inch deep layer, I did a 1-3 inch deep layer so I could cover the whole area. All this did was give me problems, because the weeds were still getting enough sunlight to grow so they still sprouted up right in the middle of the garden and caused me more work than if I had just done a smaller better covered section. It's so easy to do this as a staff because you want to see more happening and so you spread it a bit thin, which causes weaknesses that will be exposed.

But the real cool part of this revelation isn't the problems that arise when it isn't working; it's the  roles and benefits of mulch when it's working properly.

1. It sets an environment for the soil(students) where they can be shaded from the direct sunlight/direct cold. 
2. It hold onto water like a sponge for the soil rather than letting it just run right past with only a small amount being used. Which means that to be good mulch, you hold onto the water that's coming at you and slowly release it to the soil. (that's when you repeat yourself a lot, because it flew right past them the first time it hit them. Thanks Mom and Dad for being great mulch.) 
3. Then the last one is cool, because it involves us dying a bit and allowing God to use that to feed the plants he's trying to grow in the soil. I like that it is just a little bit, because in reality we aren't God for others, and although we do feed each other a bit, the real job we have as a family is to provide safety, hold onto water (rememberance of what God's said and done), and provide good conditions for growth.

A permaculturist told me that the key to a great garden in good compost and mulch. I'm totally in love with the compost side of things on a personal level, but now I'm seeing that the mulch is all about others soil. The Garden analogy still isn't complete in my head, which is good, because it keeps me leaning forward wanting more.