I'm
told that faith is a confident thing. It is sure,
and steadfast; an immovable object in the midst
of turbulent situations. At
least that's what I'm told.
I planted some seeds in the garden
yesterday, and I couldn't help wondering if it really
was always that simple. I can design a nice garden.
I've built some fine planter beds from local stone,
with a gently sloping stone pathway wandering through
it. 24 varieties of heath and heather have been
planted, garlic is growing, a few herbs have popped
up from last year, and so have some of the flower
bulbs Bev enjoys. It will take a year or two to
mature into fulness, but I feel confident about
what I have accomplished so far.
Yet, there is something about seeds,
which stretches my confidence. I feel good about
sticking a plant in the ground. I trust that it
will grow, and produce as it should - even it does
so poorly. But I have not been as sucessful in dealing
with seeds.
Is faith something like planting
a seed in the ground?
I bought many packets of Cosmos,
Calendula, White Lace, and Blue Cornflower. I purposely
chose these flowers because they are supposed to
be easy to grow. Other people have them in their
yards, and I even see some of these growing wild.
I have planted them in the time, and manner suggested
by the packets of seed. I have watered them, and
I will occasionally add nutrients when I water them
in the coming days, but I still can not make the
seeds spring up, and then live successfully beyond
their first few weeks.
None of the above information is
quite enough to quiet my mildly questioning mind.
I still wonder how these seeds are going to do.
Next week, I have an entire lawn to enjoy this same
struggle over.
I am sure that faith sometimes carries
this same gentle struggle. Jesus spoke to His disciples
in respect to faith, and identified varying degrees
of firmness in their faith. At times, He questioned
them and asked whether they had any faith at all.
On other ocassions, he would remark, "O, you
of little faith." At least a little was better
than none. But, on some rare occasions, He identified
what He called "great faith," and pointed
it out to His disciples.
Like my gentle questioning about
the seeds in my garden, I find that not all things
I do are great-faith filled actions. Often, I step
out to do something I have not attempted before,
and I hope that it will work out.
I suppose faith often is like planting
seeds in the ground.
Right now, I'm waiting for seeds
to emerge from ground, and I am hoping they will
become tall flowers. There are other things I am
waiting for as well, but these things are in the
garden of my heart. The fact that I have planted
them is in itself faith. Not always great faith,
but at least it is faith.
A seed is such a little thing. I
guess it's okay for my faith to start that way as
well - like a tiny little seed buried in the ground.
