Good Soil: Final Thoughts

come on in to our virtual book club meeting!

I’d like to imagine we’re all gathered around in the living room with books on our laps, yummy snacks, and delicious coffee, chatting about what we’ve just read!

Since this is a virtual book club and we can’t quite make that happen, I hope you’ll use the comments section to share your thoughts, as if it were your turn in a real life book club meeting.

A Quick Recap

In Good Soil, Jeff Chu weaves together personal reflection, theology, and gardening metaphors as he thinks through the question, "What does good soil look like in a life of faith?” In his time at the Farminary (a working farm at a seminary!), he reflects on growing up in a conservative Chinese American Christian home that demanded obedience, navigating the pain of his family’s reaction to his coming out, and how to hold deep love for his family and his faith.

It’s not a clean and tidy story with an incredible resolution — but that’s the point. The book is about compost, not perfection. It’s about how the broken, discarded parts of our lives and beliefs can slowly become fertile ground for something new.

My Thoughts

One of the parts that stuck with me most was his idea that good soil — the kind that grows something beautiful and lasting — is often made from compost. The rot. The scraps. The parts we usually don’t want to see. And yet, that’s where the richness comes from. That’s where the real growth begins.

I definitely don’t love the harder parts of my childhood and often wish that those things hadn’t happened to me. But if I’m being honest, those hard and bad things are what formed me into who I am today, and that is a very good thing. Good and beautiful things still grow from the compost of my own life.

I also appreciated how Jeff held the tension of his love and disagreement with his family so well. He’s clear about the hurt and the disagreement, but also about the love. What a beautiful tension to hold, when rejecting what doesn’t align with you is often the cultural norm. That kind of nuance is hard to write, and even harder to live — but it gave me a lot to think about.

This book wasn’t clear cut or linear like we’re so often used to in fiction or memoirs. But it was profound in the best way. Rooted. Reflective. Like tending a garden slowly and realizing the healing isn’t always in the harvest — sometimes it’s just in the showing up to the dirt.

Your turn!

• What part of the book resonated with you the most?

• Did Jeff’s story remind you of any part of your own faith journey?

• How do you relate to the metaphor of compost — are there hard parts of your life that are slowly being transformed into something good?

I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments! Answer these questions or share anything else that you’d like to share about the book.

Thanks for reading Good Soil with me this month! I hope you enjoyed spending time in the garden this month just as much as I did.