On a recent early morning, I was sitting with a cup of coffee on the deck in my peaceful, somewhat secluded backyard, doing my daily devotions. It’s was very quiet in the garden that morning, save for the water flowing from the antique pump into the fish tank. Only a few birds were singing and no one was eating at the Critter Café or playing chase in the yard, but the late summer flowers were blooming beautifully. The spring and early summer flowers have bloomed and the blossoms have faded, died and fallen off the stems.
The devotion that morning was based on apostle Paul’s 1st Letter to the Corinthians, chapter 9, verses 24-25: “You’ve all been to the stadium and seen the athletes race. Everyone runs; one wins. Run to win. All good athletes train hard. They do it for a gold medal that tarnishes and fades. You’re after one that’s gold eternally.” (The Message, Eugene Peterson)
This scripture got me to thinking about “my sport of gardening” and how I “train” for it.
Over the winter, I enjoy reading magazines, books and articles relating to gardening and visiting gardening web sites. I plan what my budget will be, what flowers I want to buy and where I want to plant them. Through the years I have taken lots and lots of photos of my garden in all seasons and I bring out the albums and look through them, getting ideas for what I want to do in the coming year. I spend many enjoyable hours thinking about my garden.
From mid-April to late May, I work hard in my garden. I clean up winter’s debris, I pull weeds, I transplant perennials, I spread lots of shredded bark mulch (8 cubic yards to be exact), I refine the garden edges, I put down a pre-emergent weed control and I plant new perennials and annuals. Throughout the summer, I continue to work in the garden, watering, fertilizing, deadheading. It’s the training for my sport of gardening and I enjoy the results of my “race”.
But, no matter how much time and effort I put into my sport of gardening, after blooming a day, a few days, a week or more, all the blossoms fade, die and fall off the stems.
If I willingly put so much time and hard work into my sport of gardening for flowers that bloom but will not last eternally, how much more time and effort should I put into my spiritual life in order to get a blossom (medal) that will last forever? It’s something to think about.
What’s your “sport”: baseball, soccer, the web, social media, cooking, reading, watching tv, volunteering, your I-phone and how much time do you devote to it? Do you need to put more time and effort into your spiritual life? It’s something to think about.
– Karen Timmerman
08/18/2020