The garden is such a continuing source of education for me. The other day I was out on the patio enjoying a cup of tea, and I heard the sound of busy bees who were buzzing around the fruit trees. This year there were more blossoms than ever before, and the bees were busy doing their part to make sure every one was pollinated. Later in the day I threw some leftovers on our mulch pile, and as I turned the soil, hundreds of worms appeared in the shovel...all very industriously doing their work along with beetles and other insects whose job it is to take care of the soil.
Yesterday, we had horrible winds, and many of the blossoms were shaken from the fruit trees. Our patio was a vision of snow flaked petals forming a thin blanket over the entire area. At first I was upset… “Oh, we won’t have any fruit this year!” But on closer inspection I noted that there were still many blossoms, and they were the strongest ones. It dawned on me that too many blossoms would mean a weakened crop. Too much fruit would cause the quality to diminish. Yet, the wind came as part of the garden crew, clearing out the weakest blossoms, dislodging old leaves that had clung through the winter to some of the trees, and clearing the air.
I started to laugh with appreciation as I saw all these marvelous aspects of nature working in concert as God’s Gardeners. Human gardeners go around pruning and mowing, clearing and bundling, and then what do they do? Out come the blowers, and they swish everything away (or into the street). Nature does all of this without using noisy power tools. She is the master gardener and the great planner and restorer of Herself.
Every time I think I have to figure everything out, all I need to do is walk in nature. There before me is a handiwork that no human mind could ever fully conceive of or execute with the precision and magnitude that nature does. Everything is based on reciprocal utilization and simplicity of action. The trees and plants go through their life cycle. The seasons bring the necessary climate control, and the elements conspire to give a little more at one time, and a little less at another. Sometimes things seem out of balance, but always...always, nature returns in splendor, and the effect is a symphony of beauty that holds us all in awe of the majesty and dignity of something greater than we can ever possibly fully understand.
From Seasons of the Soul print edition, Winter 2002