Day 3--Planting Seeds

"Anyone can count the seeds in apple. No one can count the apples in a seed." -Unknown

Last time I was in the library, I came across this book on seeds in the New Books section.   "An entire book on seeds?" was my first thought, but I checked it out anyway.  Seeds intrigue me.

Every spring I put hundreds of unassuming little seeds into soil.   It's like watching a magic trick.  First you take these common brown dots, then you bury them carefully.

Each seed has its preferences. Some are buried deeper than others and some are not covered at all, left to their own on the surface. These types feel reckless to me--why would a seed wish to lay on the ground, vulnerable, exposed to the sun and rains?  If I was a seed, I would never be this kind.

I'd much prefer to be the type you tuck in,  as Rose and I do when we plant garlic in the fall.  She likes to position each clove just so, and then wish them a nice winter as she pats the dirt down.

Ha!  Anyway, I follow the directions-- whatever they are--then water the trays or ground thoroughly.

At this point, I always feel like I should do something more, but that's it,  Such a simple, anti-climactic act.  But-- I like this piece of the gardening process because it demands a bit of faith. You must patiently tend, wait, and trust the process.  It's all you can do.

You miss all of this magic if you just buy a plant and stick it in the ground.

On a miniature level, burying common seeds and waiting for them to grow forces me to come to terms with my own limitations.  I can do my part, but not the whole:

"I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth. Now he who plants and he who waters are one; but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor.…" 1 Corinthians 3:6-8

Although Paul is writing about the growth of the Church here, I believe the principle stands and applies to other things.  Each day, we must do our part, whatever that is, then trust that in the end, God will bless it and it will be enough.  Whether it be in our jobs, with our children, in our families, friendships, community, we are each given a piece we can control, but none are given the whole.

God has the whole.  He will determine the growth. He grows the seeds.

And He grows us through the everyday common acts of our lives.

This is, all at once, both frustrating and freeing to me.