To get something to grow you need the right balance of a number of things: a seed, earth to put the seed in, water, and sun. Basic ingredients, and I do know that we can modify this recipe with thanks to more sophisticated systems and manipulations. But before grow lights and hydroponics the basic concept was seed, earth, water, sun. The system works pretty well if you just let it happen, and as we have seen in the last several thousand years it works better if you engage in the process a little. Our first job was as stewards of a garden so it makes sense that we should get involved.

I personally like to garden, to work in the dirt and to live in the cycles of the seasons. I like the satisfaction of seeing the seed germinate, it is a miracle every time, and watching the plant grow, somehow knowing what to do without me controlling the process, just being present as a guide. It is good for me spiritually as well; the garden is where I understand more deeply, I learn more fully the need for patience and faith, I can practice the necessity of surrendering my will which always leads to something better than I could have crafted in the limits of my imagination.

During this time of year I’m not doing much in the garden. Mostly it is a time of rest. There is pruning to be done, and because this is (we pray) when we get rain it is a good time to move things or plant small or bare root, letting things settle in over the winter. But the vegetable garden is resting, just recently sown with cover crops; everything else is cut back so energy can build in the roots. We all need these times of the year and the garden gives me a metaphor that my soul understands: if I am endlessly planting, growing outward, tilling for more I will become depleted. Eventually what I plant won’t have the energy it needs to actually grow, it will wither or be stunted.

Because of the mild weather here in the San Francisco Bay Area, there is a tendency to think you can be in a constant state of outward, productive growth. I say this both literally and metaphorically. But if you don’t take the time to prune the plants grow leggy and weak, they may survive but their potential is limited and eventually they stop looking so good. It is hard for me to do this cutting back, it is a practice for me to make space for that rest, that pruning, to ensure the plants, the soil, my self, can get what they need.

I have heard the ‘parable of the sower’ many times, and as someone who likes the garden I always felt an affinity for this story, I thought I understood. Perhaps an immature reading but I would always attach to the sower and think that the lesson here was to pay attention to where I am planting, where I am putting my energy. I would focus on making sure my energy (my seeds) is planted in good soil, a place where I can have the most impact, the most “success.” I could recognize that there were times when I was lazy and just planted where I could, knowing it wasn’t a great place (a job that wasn’t a great fit but was good enough for right now turned out to be toxic), or a project that felt destined because it took off so quickly and then wilted just as fast. I always thought I was the actor in the story ( we can talk about ego another time).

I heard the parable read in a meditation one morning and I realized it’s not about the sower, and it’s not about the seeds. It is the soil, and the soil is us. You may be reading this and saying ‘duh,’ but it was transformative for me to feel this truth. What am I doing to cultivate the soil of my heart and soul so that when God casts seeds they land in a place where they can set deep roots and grow well? How do I get in my own way and end up as a tangle of weeds and thorns, or get so attached to a particular perspective that my heart is rocky and impenetrable? Taking the time to sit every day, to pray, to listen to other teachers, this is the cultivation my soul needs to be healthy, to be nourished, to be a place where goodness can germinate. What kind of soil are you cultivating?

“The Great Storyteller began to tell his stories, teaching people about Creator’s good road. Here is one of the many stories he told them: ‘Listen!’ he said. ‘A seed planter went to plant some seeds and began to scatter them about on the ground. Some seeds fell on the village pathway, and the winged ones pecked at the seeds and ate them all. Some of the seeds fell on the rocks where there was only a little dirt. The plants sprouted up quickly, but when the sun came out, they dried up because they had no roots. Other seeds fell into the weeds, and thistles sprouted around the seeds and choked the life out of them. But some of the seeds fell on good ground, grew strong, and gave a harvest. Some gave one hundred times what was planted, some sixty, and others thirty. The ones who have ears, let them hear and understand!‘” – Matthew 13: 3-9. First Nations Version.