Open to the Spirit
Today’s word: Seeds
) “Inch by Inch, row by row, gonna make this garden grow…” These are the opening lines to the Garden Song, a favourite of mine, popularized by John Denver and many other singers. It speaks about the need to nurture the seeds we plant. It is every bit as pertinent to our internal life as it is to the garden out in the backyard.
Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh writes about this inner garden containing seeds of both desirable and undesirable plants. Each of us harbours seeds of resentment, fear, jealousy and anger. We also hold seeds of joy, gratitude and curiosity. These seeds get planted every time we interact with the world, through both happy and painful experiences. What we do with these seeds then becomes a choice.
Whatever we nurture, tend to, water and focus our attention on will grow. We can let our inner garden become overgrown with the weeds of dark thoughts, bitterness and pessimistic forecasts. If we allow that to happen they will choke out our more positive, uplifting seeds.
Nurturing the seeds of gratitude and compassion is hard work, especially if we have been wronged or have experienced great sorrow. Yet the rewards, as any gardener will tell you, abound. A sense of accomplishment, contentment and a sense of working very closely with the beauty of creation. Truly this is food for the soul.
We could do worse than to follow the next lines of the song: “Plant your rows straight and long. Temper them with prayer and song. Mother Earth will make you strong if you give her love and care
) When I was very young we had school fairs in our area. Many of us in grade school would get seeds and enter the flowers or vegetables in the Fair in September. I was always quite competitive, so I would plant them, weed them, keep them watered and so would usually win prizes. There were other classmates however who would plant them and then forget them. Seeds need nurturing in order to grow.
I recently did a funeral where I met a boy who I had baptised 30 years ago in Ontario and hadn't seen since he was a baby. It was wonderful to see how he had grown and become a mature compassionate adult. Sometimes in church circles we bring babies to be baptised and plant the seeds of faith as it were, and then forget to nurture them with Sunday school, camp, youth groups, or other activities. It is no surprise that these seeds do not always grow to become healthy plants.
Even as adults we need to nurture the seeds of faith within us. Study groups, weekly worship or community charities provide good soil. We are also called to be sowers planting seeds of faith. I'd like to think that our column in the Record is a great way to plant seeds. May we also remind people that a little sunshine, water, and the occasional weeding are needed. My hope, dear readers, is that you can find a community of love and faith to turn these seeds into a beautiful garden.
) I have always been a gardener, and have learned some important lessons over the years, not just about plants and soils, but also life.
These days in my neighbourhood, every drugstore and supermarket has at least a few plants that are for sale once spring begins. Flowers, tomatoes some lettuce, maybe even a slightly wilted blueberry bush. The perfect size and ready to put in the ground, these plants have already made their way through much of their life. The first roots have pushed their way through the soil, and those first leaves are long surpassed by many others. The quiet miracle of those seeds coming to life is taken over by convenience.
I am tempted to buy the plants, but I know that I am missing something important by not starting from the beginning. Yes, a seed takes time, and plenty of care and patience, and it is sometimes hard to even fathom that a tiny seedling can even grow into a full sized plant.
There is an important lesson in this. In our fast paced world, it is very easy to want convenience. Quick shipping, a fast response, instant gratification. We want our plants and our products, ready to go, and fast. Yet we miss out on something important when we skip those sweet moments of growth, those precious experiences of doing our best to live in the moment. We need to remember that everything starts small. Whether a little root and tiny leaves, a simple idea, a kind word or a single act of compassion, we can hold onto the faith that the smallest seeds can grow into truly something spectacular.
) "Have you ever watched a seed grow? Have you ever noticed how it begins so small, so still, so quiet, like a gift waiting to be opened…and how slowly it wakes up, begins to unfold, growing into something larger… and Larger…and LARGER? Then you know that whatever comes from a seed usually ends up looking very little like the seed it came from…" Those are opening lines to a poem I once wrote that eventually turned into an illustrated origin myth first published in the early 2000s as I was beginning my career in ministry.
The idea for the story of The Everything Seed grew into a book that became in turn the seed of many readings and creative events. Colourful batik illustrations by my friend Joy inspired amazing art, writing, drama. Conferences and churches used it as a story for all ages in far corners of the globe. People and places I could never have known or reached were touched by what began as a meditation on the wondrous miracle of seeds. Given as blessing it celebrates times of transition and new beginnings. And like all that comes from a seed, it's continued to blossom "in ways that are yet to be known." Which is how the book ends…because seeds continue to flourish wherever they find fertile ground to grow.
With young children, I like to pass around a small basket of assorted seeds, inviting each to take one and hold it, feel the energy in this small package of potential. On the outside, it may be smooth and shiny or shriveled and crusty. A clear jar of mustard seeds or poppy seeds shows that it doesn't matter how small we begin. Like any seed, we too may blossom into astonishing beauty. Love is the sunlight we humans need to grow.
Who knows how far and wide the deeds we do will spread, or how a chance word of kindness or encouragement might sprout in the heart's deep soil. What seeds have you planted in your life whose blossoms you will never see? Scatter wisely, sow without counting, broadcast kindness everywhere, even between the rows. Let us be like seeds.
One word, four voices - now it's your turn to reflect: If you yourself were a seed in the world, how would you blossom; what fruit would you bear?
Rev. Mead Baldwin pastors the Waterville & North Hatley pastoral charge; Rev. Lynn Dillabough is now Rector of St. Paul's in Brockville ON. She continues to write for this column as a dedicated colleague with the Eastern Townships clergy writing team; Rev. Lee Ann Hogle ministers to the Ayer’s Cliff, Magog & Georgeville United Churches; Rev. Carole Martignacco, Unitarian Universalist, is retired from her ministry with Uuestrie and now resides in St. Andrews by-the-sea NB. She aims to keep one foot in the Townships by continuing with this column and writing with her clergy colleagues.