Today is my official return to the earth where my dad spent so many years of his life. I know, I know...that sounds a little overly dramatic for putting in a garden. However, we don't realize all the strands of our lives and how they stay connected to one another until certain life events renew or reveal the connection. I grew up on an acre lot in a small Michigan town just on the outskirts of the Metro Detroit area. We lived in a village only 2 blocks from the main crossing. Yet, our land had been in our family for over 100 years and for 100 years 2/3 of our lot was used for planting crops of various kinds. As time passed on and other lots were divided up and sold for lots for homes, our family's lot did not, and every year the big ole' garden was planted.
By the time the 1980s rolled around our town was pretty full and a very typical suburban village with houses lined up and down streets one next to the other. It never occurred to me that our garden and the 1/2 acre of corn growing on our lot in the middle of our village was at all peculiar. As I turned 10, I no longer had any interest in the garden or helping out with it. As my dad got older and his health diminished, the garden grew smaller and smaller. About the time I left for the Marines, our large lot was divided up into 3 smaller lots and sold off for two more homes to be built in what used to be our back yard and garden. The Zilkie garden heritage was gone, having died off through the tyranny of progress and technology.
Well today, "The Earth Strikes Back". With Julie leading the charge, the Zilkies are putting in some raised beds for our own garden and the children's hearts have returned to their fathers. I am putting our raised beds together, mixing the perfect soil without any weeds, leaving behind the old method of rows and spaced out planting. (My dad would be amazed to see how much different and easier gardening has become in the past 25 years.) Most importantly, our children are thrilled to use the tools to assemble the beds and are excited to be given their own sections of garden to care for. I think I am a little better casting the vision than my dad was which helps a bit.
On a personal note, there is something very spiritual about gardening. Gardening is a metaphor for life. In our present day we want and expect everything to come immediately. This is also true of our relationship with God. And yet God says that we are "like a tree planted by rivers of water" (see Psalm 1). A tree does not grow overnight but over a long time and as a result of consistent nuture and care. Also, being involved in something mysterious like watching a little seed become a big, beautiful, food producing plant 4 months later, while all I do is water, is quite amazing. God has a plan, and He has engineered that plan in the life of every seed and in our own lives as well. We need to have a vision for His plan and patiently water each others hearts and souls as well as our own, watching with anticipation for the signs of growth He brings about. I am seeing this growth and God-activity every week at Rooftop and in my own family.
As you consider your life this spring, you may not be planting a garden, but I want to encourage you to reflect a moment if you would. What seed is God planting in your heart and soul and how does He want to see that grow? What is He asking you to do in the area of watering that will allow a "harvest of righteousness" in the months ahead? It won't happen overnight, but one day after many days, you will look and see a spiritual sprout break through the ground of your life. Feel excitement just as children do that first morning the plants in our earthly gardens have broken through the earth and are on their way to a bountiful harvest.
No comments:
Post a Comment