I have always loved to get outside and get my hands in the dirt. This spring, my husband and I had a landscape company do a pretty sizable landscape project in back of our cabin up in North Georgia. What was supposed to be a three week job ended up taking several months. It’s beautiful…the hardscape part, but then the work of putting in plants began.
I went to this one garden place where the prices for plants was pretty awesome. So I overbought, which meant that I had to plant what I purchased. We are talking about 20 plus plants. I wasn’t thinking. But I got them all home, and started in. In the back of my cabin, hole digging means roots and rocks and red clay. My husband helped a bit with the roots, hacking at them with a dull ax. But he got them out eventually. Getting the rocks out actually helped to make the hole bigger. I talked to each plant as I put him or her into the hole, and wished it well, promising to keep them watered. But by the time I was done, I was hating the process. Oh dear.
I began to wonder if anyone had ever written a book about the spiritual discipline of gardening. As a therapist, I know that several of my clients find gardening to be very therapeutic. And I do too, if it’s not overboard. I remember working on the landscape at our last counseling center. An older couple volunteered to help, and the gentleman loved to do the watering. “It’s very meditative” he said.
It’s not rocket science to realize how many metaphors there are when it comes to gardening and the spiritual life. Jesus used farming and seeds and growth of plants frequently in his teachings, as the common folk would truly connect with the images and how they might relate to their lives.
In my own life, the roots and the rocks felt like the impediments to the planting process. It took great effort to get them out of the hole in order to plant a new plant in the hole with nutrient rich soil. I had to keep at it, stay with it and not give in to my frustrations, with the goal of helping a new plant prosper.
Does this feel like great love?
