Since the blossoms will become green beans, since the tomatoes will soon be crowding each other for a peek of the red-ripening sun, since going to the garden feeds my soul as well as my family, I look forward every year to the season of hunkering down between the bean plants. It seems to become more challenging every year, but this is my thirty-sixth garden, so I’ve definitely signed on for the long haul of canning and sticky jam-making on hot July afternoons.
Weeding was terrifying in my early days of gardening. How can you tell a beet seedling from an impostor when both are tinged with red? And I truly thought I would perish before finishing our first season of bean canning — sixty-five shiny new pint jars full of green beans. Ironically, I have routinely canned 65 quarts since then and never once thought I would perish.
From my garden, I am learning about diligence.
The garden yields its treasures to the worker who plants, weeds, picks, prepares, and preserves its bounty. When I pick veggies, I have learned to use my sense of touch as well as sight.
For example, green peppers blend in so well with their bushy plant that one fall, I underestimated their number and carried a small bucket to hold the harvest. When that was full, I requisitioned a decrepit Tonka truck from the sandbox and loaded it too!
Where had this unexpected bounty come from?
Picking, I had used two hands, holding onto each plant and feeling every inch.
I wish I could say that my devotional habits mirrored my gardening practices. Do I read as if I were working in the garden, ransacking every verse for every morsel of truth to feed my soul?
I’m afraid that sometimes I pick up the Bible as if it were a sales flyer. “Anything good on sale this week?” A quick scan for bargains, and then on to the next item in the junk mail pile.
One thing I know for sure: when I harvest my green peppers, I’m not thinking about eggplants (as lovely as eggplants are!).
From my garden, I am learning about focus.
When the psalmists wrote about this kind of concentration, they used the Hebrew word hagah, usually translated as “meditate.” (See Psalm 1:2; 63:6) In Eat this Book, Eugene Peterson connects the dots to Isaiah 31:4 where the prophet uses the same Hebrew word to refer to a lion growling over its prey.
Our dearly departed St. Bernard, Tucker, used to concentrate on his bones and chewy toys in the same noisy and focused state of mind. In Peterson’s opinion, “Meditation is too tame a word. Isaiah’s lion chewed and swallowed when he meditated.” I am interested in cultivating this kind of reading — spiritual reading that feeds my soul.
“Open my eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.” (Psalm 119:18)
I know they are there, Lord. Help me to see them today—and every day.
Holding You in the Light,
“Open my eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.” I know they are there, Lord. Help me to see them today and every day.
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What a fabulous analogy! It sounds like you are quite the master gardener.
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Oh, please don’t think that! I am a long-time practitioner, but no expert!
Every time I work in my garden, though, I feel as if I am being tutored by the work.
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Well, as someone who never seems able to grow anything we’d actually eat (I can seem to keep flowers and greenery alive!) it’s impressive to me.
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If we could pool our gardening skills, THAT would be a master gardener!
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I had to laugh when you compared reading the bible to a sales flyer. Boy, that sounds like me most of the time. You make me laugh, make me think, inspire me to do better and remind me that I am not alone in my struggle towards being the best version of myself that I can be. Thanks!
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Oh, I am SO glad to hear that you caught the point of that image! Thank you for reading!
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I love fresh from the garden veggies and fruit
BUT
I abhor weeding
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It’s hard work, isn’t it?!
It can be overwhelming but it’s also very satisfying. And the results…❤️
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Meditation is probably the hardest part of Bible study for me–especially day and night, as Psalm 1 says!
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I hear you. Our minds go 100 miles an hour and in so many directions!
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I’m not a gardener at all, but I learned from this lesson. Focus is something I need to work on.
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In this age of scrolling, I think we’re all going to be working on focus!
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Psalm 1:2 also says “his DELIGHT is in the law of the Lord!” and that challenged me to consider how often am I actually delighted (as opposed to many other emotions!) to open my Bible? And perhaps that delight will encourage me to meditation day and night!
Thanks for your insights on gardening, too!
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Delight is such a lovely word for the experience of meeting with the Lover of our souls!
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I have never had much luck with green peppers – though I try every year. When I am harvesting the oregano, I am focused on the oregano. The same with each, though my garden and canning are not as big a task as yours. Oh, how I need that focus time with our Father. Just Him and me – no distractions, no watch-checking, no just grabbing a crumb and calling it filling. Thank you, Michele, for saying it so well!
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I’ve never had much luck with green peppers, though I try ever year. My garden is much smaller than yours, but when I’m harvesting the oregano, like you, I am focused on the oregano – the same with the lavender, the tomatoes, the cucumbers. How I want to be like that with our Father – intently focused on what He’s saying to me – not stepping from foot to foot focusing on what’s next – or grabbing for a crumb and taking off, too impatient to wait for the whole meal. I want to live focused on Him – in the intentional time and unintentional time.
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We planted a much smaller garden this year and I am excited about the manageable size! And my nemesis is eggplants! Can’t grow them to save my life!
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That is such a beautiful way to look at your garden. I think the lessons you see are beautiful! And so true.
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I confess I have never had a green thumb. My dad definitely did and while he lived just 2 miles from our home, we were the benefactors of his garden treasures. He had grown up on a farm and gardening was as much a part of him as breathing. I recall his going through seed catalogs in the winter months as he planned for the next season’s garden. He had fruit trees of apples, peaches, and cherries as well as berry bushes. For some reason I still recall he liked Laxton Progress peas. He has been with the Lord since 1995. Every season of my life I learn and yearn to dig more deeply into the Word. It has nourished and sustained me through good times and bad but I read it primarily for the relationship with the Lord with roots going down deeper than for the fascinating knowledge it holds. Thanks for these good words.
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I love that you read with relationships in mind. And it shows, my friend!
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An inspiring and convicting analogy to examine our hearts as we read or listen to His Word, Michele. Am I focusing, digging deeper, mining for His glorious Truth or am I running by and grabbing a handful to munch on for a moment?
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That’s the question every time we place ourselves before the Word of God!
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It is sobering to think of comparing Scripture to a sales flyer {{ouch}} but sadly, there are some days I think I might. May I always read God’s Word focused, and with a heart looking to be delighted by what I find and learn.
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Yes, that’s true. It is a sobering comparison and I thought carefully before I used it {Am I being overly harsh here??}—I pray that our handling of Scripture will reflect its importance in our lives.
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Michele, I don’t think you were being harsh. It was good to think about it. I am most grateful when people (like you) provoke me to think deeply and examine myself. Thank you, friend!
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I appreciate your input!
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