GARDENS OF LIFE

March 20, 2009

Spring is finally making its earliest appearances. The weather still bears a chill, but the warmth of the sun and the constant migration of the Canadian geese are welcomed signs. They stir excitement in the bones and a new desire to make the most of all the daylight hours. As spring arrives, so do newly planted gardens, flowers that have kept their heads hidden beneath the dirt, and baby buds on trees. I ran across this quote last year and have kept it tucked away until just the right moment. It seems to me that raising children and interacting with one another, even as adults, the principles of this quote are quite applicable. What do you think?

QUOTE:
"Seedlings are pampered in the beginning to assure a healthy start, and then allowed to grow freely. Plants thrive on this benign neglect."

We pamper flowers by taking gentle care to nurture them. We water them frequently. We feed them. We use just the right soil for each kind of flower. We check on them regularly. We remove the obstacles that would keep them from growing.

As they mature, they don't need as much attention. But, we do enjoy watching them. We treasure their beauty. We enjoy being amongst them. We also take care to trim and cut away any deadness that prohibits them from being the most beautiful flowers they can be. However, as children become adults, we no longer have the same relationship with them as we did when they were children. There is a time when we let them be who they are going to be, release them to the freedom in which God created them to have, so that they can become the beauty that God has created them to be. Somehow though, parents are never too far away.

Is this not the same principle in our relationships with each other? We experience one another's beauty by taking pleasure and enjoyment from being amongst one another. We nurture each other through gentle confrontations as needed. And we sit back amazed at all the various flowers people represent; their colors, their aromas, and the different types. The world is full of God's beauty and creativity