Meditations from the Garden

A garden contains a myriad of spiritual lessons which may be gleaned by the contemplative soul. She who reflects on the subtle metaphors of preparing and nourishing the soil and carefully removing the unwanted plants which compete for light and food will benefit in applying these lesson to her own inner life. I love to meditate on spiritual matters as I work in garden. It is a peaceful, profitable effort, one which rewards me with vivid insights into the needs of my spirit.

I have recently begun a community garden project at my church, and so have been spending a great deal of time tending this little plot. I often listen to sermons or audio books with an mp3 player while I work, and have found this to be an extremely pleasant method of making tedious work more enjoyable. I most recently listened to The Life and Diary of David Brainerd by Jonathan Edwards, one of the best books I have ever read. I can easily recommend it as most beneficial for stirring up conviction and inspiring a more serious and attentive attitude towards prayer and seeking the divine presence of God in daily life.

Brainerd was a profoundly watchful man regarding the state of his own soul, and at times I found the reading difficult because of the shame that would rise up in me, due to the great contrast between his approach to spiritual things and my own. But after I reflected on it and considered it, this shame would transform into a kind of inspiration, and I desired to emulate him in some way. He truly found all his pleasure in the Lord, and had come to a place in his own heart, such that all his satisfaction was in the enjoyment and contemplation of and communion with God. It was a very sweet read.

This book, especially, was well suited to being enjoyed while working in the garden. One of the more edifying lessons I have learned recently arose while I was tending the summer squash plants. These are some of the most luxuriant and lush of all the plants in the garden, but they are prey to a certain pest, which, in larvae form, enters the base of the stem and begins to eat its way upwards, devouring all the vascular tissue of the inner stem. The plant will continue to grow, because the larvae begins quite small, but as it grows, the plant is slowly weakened, so that suddenly on a very hot day, the plant seems to wilt, and no amount of water will revive it. If the gardener has not been watchful, the plant will most likely die unexpectedly, within a matter of days.

How like the state of the soul! How manifold at the ways in which our own soul is vulnerable to just such a subtle, imperceptible assault! The harmful worm escapes our notice, and enters our heart as something too small and uninteresting to catch our attention. There is begins to feed and as its strength grows, our own diminishes, until we suddenly find ourselves weakened unexpectedly, and quite unable to cope with more powerful conflicts raging within. How needful it is to be watchful, informed, and anxious for the safety and health of our own souls, that we may perceive what is noxious and corrupting, root it out, and nourish our spirits with true food and true drink. May we be like a tree planted by streams of living water, bearing fruit in season, to the glory of the name of our Father and to the praise of our Redeemer forever.