Gardening the Soul: Intro

Gardening on the northern plains has unique thrills. I suspect southerners don't experience the same euphoria that we polar gardeners do when spring arrives. The snow and the cold have imprisoned us for so long, that we become down right giddy when a shovel will slide into frost-free ground.

But the high doesn't last long. After spring's initial rush, we have to hunker down into the drab, daily grind of tending the garden through the long, languid summer. The problem with life is that it is so "daily"!

A couple of summers ago I stopped by a parking-lot greenhouse to select a few more annuals to fill out our garden. It was early Monday morning and dour-faced workers were scurrying around in a chaotic frenzy—whoever was responsible for the greenhouse over the blistering weekend, had failed to water the seedlings. There were thousands of stressed seedlings, sadly hanging their heads. The staff had begun the joyless task of throwing out tray after tray of scorched seedlings.

The life and productivity of every living plant is dependent upon water. Though newly sprouted seedlings and one hundred year-old oak trees have somewhat different needs, each would die without water. Knowing my plants' need for water and the uncertainty of timely rains in South Dakota, I spend considerable time analyzing the moisture in the soil, listening to weather reports, eyeing the sky, praying for rain, checking my rain gauge, and watering. During the growing season our yard is frequently criss-crossed with hoses. I recall only once asking God to halt excessive rains. He did—and it didn't rain measurably for the next three months. (A South Dakota native should know better!) For this plains’ gardener, a moderate, all-day rain is a great joy!

The ancient Israelites—who also lived in a rain-marginal land—understood the blessing of ample rain. And they used the watering of the land as a metaphor for God's watering of their lives:

 

Let my teaching fall like rain
    and my words descend like dew,
 like showers on new grass,
   like abundant rain on tender plants. (Deut.32:2)
   

When summer rain arrives after a dry period, the tender grasses and plants lap it greedily. Within hours they are greener, taller, livelier. It is the same for me. When I lap up God's “teaching” and his “words”, this tender plant shoots up as well.

Over the next several blogs I will explore the theme of how God waters our lives so that even if we live “in a sun-scorched land”, we “will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.”  Is.58:11