Lessons in the garden
Ilove gardens. Some of my favorite memories are help ing my maternal grandpar ents work in their gardens. I helped plow the gardens, plant the gardens, and in my summer visits, I would help gather the produce and process it as needed. I guess gardening runs in the family. My mother’s maternal grandparents raised nice gardens on a terraced hill behind their house. In fact, my great-grandfather Tinsley plowed with his mule Pete on the hill until his early nineties, when his children made him put the mule to pasture and stick with a smaller garden. Even my mother plants her vegetables every year, well into her eighties. Now, five generations later, I’m doing smaller raised gar-dens.
I remember walking with my greatgrandpa Tinsley through one of his gardens, and I noticed the potatoes were kind of small and ugly.
His tomatoes were not that big, his peppers were not very large, and other vegetables he grew had similar characteristics. Trying not to be condescending, I said, “Grandpa, they have seeds now that will produce much larger tomatoes, potatoes, beans, peas, corn, peppers, and okra. Why don’t you use them?” I’ll never forget what he told me. “Son, they are no good. I have kept the seeds of these plants for over forty years, and they keep reproducing and I know what I’ll get. Those hybrids are good for one season, but they don’t reproduce very well, and so to me, they are no good.” Later, the memory taught me a great spiritual lesson. You see, the Lord wants us to be fruitful, just as everything He has made is fruitful. All plants reproduce according to their kind, and all animals reproduce according to their kind. We are further admonished to bear spiritual fruit—the fruit of love, joy, patience, longsuffering, and so forth.
Could it be that we are living in a time when people are more concerned about appearances and size, but not so much about the ability to reproduce? Could it be that our goals are only about the present, and not about the future?
The lesson from the garden stuck with me in many areas of my life, whether in raising a family, or serving in organizations, including the church. Am I reproducing my values, my faith, and my life for another generation to share in and perhaps embrace as their own? At least one thing is certain-most of my kids have tried to grow vegetables!
