The Dirt

It is that time of year, on the verge of April and spring. For me, there is an itching, a craving for dirt -to get my hands in it, turn it over, plant seeds - all of the very tactile things that come with planting and growing a garden. Even in this urban environment, with a limited back yard space and poor light exposure, I still yearn to turn every thing over and plant -have the back yard explode with color and food. An explosion of beauty and sustenance. My grandfather WalkingStick was a great gardener and so is my mother. They both have green thumbs, something which I did not inherit from them. But I inherited the need to dig in the dirt and encourage life from dark places.

I have been reflecting this week that God is the ultimate gardener. Desperate to plant and grow, to reseed, to re-enliven, to restore, to heal each of us and this planet, and to bring life and beauty where there once was none. Sometimes, I can forget that God's passion for us is greater than the passions within us - even for digging in the dirt. And I know that I don't have the green thumb that my Mom does, partially because I am not as patient and nurturing as she is. She is willing to weed and to water, to trim and putter. God too, is patient with us, puttering and nurturing until we are able and ready to blossom. My prayer day is that each of us will have the courage and the patience to be replanted and nurtured by God. That we will take root and receive the watering, the trimming and the weeding, always turning our eyes and our hearts towards the sun. I pray that today, just today, we will be patient as God makes new life grow in each of us so that we might be beauty and sustenance for the world around us.