How To Tend Your Garden

Spring seems like the right time to discuss all things garden- ny. Except, this garden is not outside of ourselves. It is both – the inside and the outside garden.

Yesterday, I did a short video about this very topic on FB Live. I spat out some random thoughts and words. Not sure if I hit the nail on the head. But I did.

And here is another hit. The garden that we tend to on the outside can be cultivated plot by plot. Perennials, orchids, daffodils, and the rest have their own seasons and watering needs. They come alive, die, and come alive again.

Just like our lives, projects, places, and things we work on. Everything does not have to end – that’s it, or be alive -24/7 to matter.

What’s better is picking and choosing which “things” needs water now and those that don’t. No, no. This isn’t a priority list. I see your mind working to narrow this down, into a thing you already know. Well, my mind did at first.

This is about thriving. Priority lists are about survival.

When we thrive, our garden has live and dead things. It shines, and it darkens. Some plots flourish with beautiful, fantasy-like displays, and others are full of weeds, and dry things. They co-exist. If you go to any large garden, you will see this in play.

Projects or plots?

Projects or “plots” are the same. If there are 8 projects I am working on, only 2 need the water, the other 6 can get fed on other weeks, days, or yes, even months. And if they do not get physically fed by me, then I trust that God will bring it to life when need be. My muddling in it everyday is not going to make it better. It needs time alone, time in the darkness, to find its roots, soil, and come back up.

This gave me some peace.

And the inside garden? Intimacy, rest, prayer. What feeds us, keeps us safe? Not social media, or your 8 best friends, but food, shelter, secured.

Now what?

My next thing – to visit the Brooklyn Botanic Garden again, and study how nature does it. Because if the answer to any of our questions isn’t there, it’s not a question worth asking.

Originally posted 2019-04-01 18:42:01.