I taught with a friend who was very specific about what she grew in her yard. Plants that took over if she left town for a week and didn’t keep them under control, she named “thugs.” In one of my beds, the thug is rucellia. Arching red branches that attract hummingbirds have roots that creep and sprout as you watch. The truth of the matter is seeds and plants do what they are made to do. We are the ones who want to control where they do it. Thoreau reminds us our task is “ making the earth grow beans instead of grass.”
True stories of surprise growth. Two weeks ago on a late evening walk a neighbor was pulling two- leaf volunteers massed by his front sidewalk. We both shook our heads in ignorance and I went on, Another stroll this Saturday. The mystery was solved. When the pumpkin was carved, the admonition was not to mess the driveway, and the children dumped seeds in the grass. Water and sunlight did the rest. I don’t know if a Swift pumpkin patch was a possibility, but the thought was worth a vision and a giggle.
Next is a story from a long ago pastor who grew up as a farm boy. One warm spring day he had the task of planting corn down a field of long rows that ended by a creek. The rule is three kernels at a time: one for the birds, one to sprout, and one to weed out later if not needed. The day got hotter. He reached the end of a row with just a handful left, dumped them all in the last hill, and dove into the water. “Yes, dad, I finished it all.” That sentence worked until mid-June when his dad called him to the dumped spot where multiple small emerging shocks covered that particular space. Moral: Your sins will find you out.
When I started this, I really didn’t know where it was going. I was just trying to write this early because Wednesday, the 20, middle son and I are leaving town. This is a trip that requires my world will stay in orbit for four days without tending. I’ve thought about Bloom where you are planted, just do my best wherever I am. Then there is Whatever you sow, you shall reap. Whatever I leave undone when I go will be here when I get back. Look at your day and put something in to grow. I’ve paid a bill, had lunch with a friend, packed a suitcase, and set an alarm for early rising because this is where I landed.
Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let your hands not be idle, for you do to know which will succeed.
Ecclesiates 11:6
Let Me Tell Ya 