i've been having conversations about gardening with several friends lately. about our obsession with putting things in the ground, watering them, tending them, waiting for them to yield their fruits. and i've been thinking about how, when things are difficult, when i feel down, when i feel overwhelmed, i turn to my garden. it seems so cliche, but i think there is truth in the idea of the therapeutic power of a garden.
in one of these conversations, a friend said that he thinks gardening is holy. and i think he's right.
i've been thinking about how, when i garden, i feel a satisfaction in taking a task from start to finish and in being able to see the results of my labor. i feel a connectedness to people as i consider the produce that will grow from what i plant and how i can use that to feed my friends. i feel a closeness to God as i consider how He is a gardener of souls and how He set adam and eve to the task of gardening and caring for the animals in eden. at the end of a day of working on my garden, i feel like things are more right in my world.
it's amazing the joy i feel as i watch my peas add length to their vines and climb the tripods i made for them, as i watch my bean plants begin to blossom in anticipation of the beans they will produce, and as i watch little tiny beet sprouts emerge from the dirt i sprinkled seeds in just days before. and i think about how this all requires patience. about how i have to keep tending my garden until late june or early july before i'll get to eat anything grown from these plants.
i guess, really, i'm grateful to God for the gift of gardening. it wears me out, it produces real joy, and it teaches me a little something about the care He takes with me. the joy He must feel when my soul shows a little growth or a small blossom emerges. and it helps me to take heart, even when life seems overwhelming.
the thing itself:
