Gardening Tips for the Road

“For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him, all things hold together. Colossians 1:16-17

This month we take a look at conservation, or “the prevention of wasteful use of resources.” It is possible for one’s thoughts to immediately jump to an external resource such as water, soil, the air we breathe which are vital; but my thoughts also run to what is inside us, our interior landscape, our internal resources. A four step process I find helpful in the garden also works well internally.

Before I prepare the soil or purchase seed, I consider what I need from the garden. Will my focus this year be tomatoes only or cucumber for pickles? Once that is determined, I move on to the four basic steps, preparation, planting, weeding, tending, and harvesting the crops I hope to grow. I realized that is a really good way to look at my soul, my intellect, my spirit - my inner landscape. If those areas are left to chance or untended, my exterior world ends up pretty barren.

Preparation

“Every part of the journey is of importance to the whole.” St. Teresa of Avila

I sit down with a cup of coffee, and a stack of books on prayer and soul searching are beside me on a table. I thumb through them all, perusing the table of contents, really needing something to “leap” from the page and grab me and point me in a direction. Breathing deeply I pray. “God this is where I am, please O God, give me knowledge of your will for my life and the desire to carry it out.” This short and powerful prayer was given to me by my late Al-Anon sponsor who was a good friend; indeed I talk with her more now that she is part of that great cloud of witnesses scripture speaks of, asking her to pray for and with me that I am open and prepared to receive this knowledge and that when I do, that I also revel in the desire to carry it out.

Planting

“Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire.” St. Catherine of Siena

Once I taught a First Holy Communion class of older students who had yet to receive this sacrament. I told them I had a gift for them, it could not be held in their hands but they could unwrap it. The gift was the above quote which helps me consider my inner landscape.

One particular student, who was edgy, questioning, and did not mind holding me to account, had stolen my heart. As she stepped from the pew to receive Jesus in the Eucharist for the first time, I asked her if she was ready to set the world on fire. Smiling, she said yes.

The seeds we plant are sometimes well marked and obvious, but mostly we never know how or even where the seeds, better known as our attitudes, remarks, actions (or lack thereof) can fall and grow. To take care that I am planting good seeds, I need to check in with myself to see what is growing within me. Even a quiet few moments once a week can help.

Weeding

“Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy.” 1 Corinthian 4:2

A couple of years ago I reclaimed an errant patch of land which at one time was a beautiful and productive herb garden. Where there was a profusion of weeds now there was a wealth of herbs that helped season my life. I have to confess to you that my herb garden is getting a bit out of hand. Work has kept me busy, hot afternoons have tempted me to stay indoors and the weeds are beginning to take over. My niece told me that she would have cleaned up the herb bed but she did not know which were weeds and which were not. That, I thought, is because it is my job since I do know the difference. That is how we are, no one can pluck the weeds which choke out the light and growth God has for us. It is our job and with God’s help and some honest tidying, we can once again be ready to be good stewards.

Tending/Caring

“Behold I tell you a mystery, we shall not sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment in the twinkling of an eye.” 1 Corinthians 15:50

Rising early I am in the garden caring for the tender plants which seemed to trust and challenge me simultaneously. Reading about the needs of each plant, fertilizing, amending the soil, admiring the daily growth, and recording it in my garden journal were all part of my daily regime; why do I fail to apply those same principles to my interior landscape?

Laziness is too cliche’; I believe that for me it is a lack of visibility. I cannot see the transformation of the garden in one day; it comes from a constant tending, likewise neglect of it is painfully obvious. I cannot see my soul but I can see the effects of it, the fruits of it when it is well tended over a lifetime. and the obvious tangles when it is ignored. This from Teresa of Avila nurtures me: “Each of us has a soul, but we forget to value it. We don’t remember that we are creatures made in the image of God. We don’t understand the great secrets hidden inside us.

Harvest

“Where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.” Matthew 6:21

Unlike large-scale farming with the uniform ripening of acres of the same seeds, the harvest in my garden came in spurts of varying degrees. I might find that there are four ripe okra pods or all my tomatoes or cucumbers will “come in”. Both of these are equally important to me as a gardener. The reward of time well spent in my garden is truly a gift that happens on a chilly November Saturday when I pop the top on a jar of canned tomatoes and bite down. I am filled with the smell of my garden after a rain and the harvest of summer being born in my mouth.

What am I called to harvest internally? What have I cultivated? What have I culled? What delights do I find?

These are questions for life, not questions for a day. I have to consider with a fair amount of frequency where my heart is.

Conservation a both/and.; one need not cancel the other out. If drained and depleted spiritually I have nothing left to give so I must practice good stewardship of my soul. To St. Catherine’s point, I doubt if I can set the world on fire if I don’t have the strength to strike the match. Conservation and its principles can be internally applied.

I cannot give you a ten-point plan or a gardening schedule for your soul. You know best how to do that, what I can tell you is that the vocation of being a creation made in the image of God is a full time occupation. In more words of wisdom from Teresa of Avila “Christ has no hands and feet in the world but yours.” What a charge, what a blessing, what a both/and!