Plant Seed, Pull Weed

I spent a couple of hours outside today with two tasks in mind: to plant zinnia seeds in the small bed by the barn and weed around the blackberry bushes. As I was working, the title of a book I encoun-tered long ago popped into my head: Plant Seed, Pull Weed by Geri Larkin. Sometimes we make life very compli-cated, when it really comes down to planting seed that will bear good fruit and removing weeds that drain our energy and resources.

Planting seeds is an act of intention. I once heard a story in which a person asked a friend what he thought the coming year would bring. “It will bring flowers,” his friend said. “How do you know?” the man asked. “Because today I am planting flower seeds,” his friend responded. We will encounter what we welcome into our lives.

Sometimes, of course, God (and the birds that carry seeds hither and yon) gift us with some surprises. I discovered some lovely purple flowers by the black raspberry bushes that I hadn’t planted. Ultimately, we can prepare the soil, plant the seed, fertilize, weed, and water, but plants grow (or don’t) according to their own mysterious processes and purposes.

Gardening inevitably is an exercise in learning patience and humility, which led to another thought as I planted and weeded: I’m not sure I really trust people who aren’t gardeners. More often than not, I can count on people who garden to be humble, patient, well grounded, industrious, observant, generous, joyful, and peaceful. They know how to keep things simple: Plant seed, pull weed.