EASTER VI
May 5, 2024
“The Joy of Planting”
“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven;
a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
I know that whatever God does endures forever . . .” (Ecclesiastes 3:1-2, 14)
When a perfect spring day wraps its arms around me, it feels like I’m being held in a loving hug in the arms of my heavenly Father. It’s just so right when the sun gently warms us and there’s a unique softness in the air that is like no other time of year. We can’t help but wonder why these glorious days can’t stay around longer, wishing there was some means of preservation by which we could package them up to be opened when it’s cold and wet and gray, and we really, really need that beauty!
The joy of planting and growing is virtually universal, and certainly cross-generational. My own children took part in the ever-popular kindergarten activity, “the planting of the bean.” It’s so simple — paper cups, potting soil, bean seeds and a little water. After a few days on the windowsill, soaking up the sun, a little green sprout would poke through to the delight of the budding (I know, I couldn’t help it) gardeners, followed by a stem bearing a leaf. Of course, there was always someone who couldn’t stand not knowing what was going on under the surface of the dirt, so the cup was upended, revealing the partial seed with the plant growing out of it. And there’s your first lesson in how plants grow.
Images of planting, growth and harvest are familiar to people around the world, and are descriptive of many human experiences. In Genesis, Chapter 2, we learn that God planted a garden in Eden, placing the first humans there to till it and keep (protect) it. The Gospel of John tells us in Chapter 1941a, 42b): “Now there was a garden in the place where he was crucified, and in the garden there was a new tomb . . . And so, they laid Jesus there.” What a beautiful synchronicity: life as we understand it began in a garden, and the new life we are given through Christ’s resurrection occurred in a garden.
Throughout his ministry, Jesus taught using familiar, everyday descriptions. In one parable, he described a farmer sowing seeds and the variety of soil on which they landed: a rocky, barren space where the plants grew quickly but had such shallow roots they withered, a patch of thorns that choked out the seedlings, and rich, fertile ground where the crop flourished.
And so we are called to follow in the steps of those who have gone before us, sowing the seeds of God’s Word, caring for our little seedlings, helping them grow strong and sturdy. Much of the time, we’ll never know whether our seeds grew at all, much less reached fruition. But that doesn’t matter — we’ll just keep on planting!
Loving to plant, trusting there’ll be a harvest,
Your friend in Christ,
Mary Rogers