Dear reader, I missed my self-imposed publishing deadline late last week. I’m sorry for wrecking your week. Ha! Ha! I hope this week is off to a great start. For some of you, it may be the opposite of great. If that’s the case I hope your situation improves or your outlook on your situation improves. Either way, you can call it a win. If neither of these things happen then perhaps I can help just a little by the time you reach the end of this newsletter. My wife is watering so many trays of plants right now. We have so many they’ve taken over the kitchen counter and table. We don’t even have another batch of microgreens going yet but we will. Our sweet peas are over a foot long and leaning. They want to get outside. We have nearly 100 flower starts with about half of them about 10” tall. The tomato stems are nearly as thick as a pencil which is awesome.
Regular readers of my newsletter may notice that a common thread running throughout my writing is how force sometimes causes problems or rather force is often just a trade-off disguised as a success for the moment. Taking antibiotics is a great example of what I’m talking about. Herbicides and pesticides are other examples. Why would we assume that intervening in natural systems is usually the best course of action when God has set up an effective system already?
A backyard garden is quite different from a natural system but I think we would be wise to follow the pattern we see in nature to the extent that we can. Sometimes we are forced to intervene to reverse something someone else did to the land before we got there. God wouldn’t typically grow such limited varieties of edible plants in such a small area as a garden but we can approximate natural conditions to an extent. God is the ultimate gardener. I think His gardening style is much more food forest than row cropping.
Seeds are a great example of intelligent biology. We can learn a lot from a humble seed. When a seed gets the signal to start growing it opens and the first thing to emerge is the embryonic root called a radicle. This baby root is responsible for the fate of the future plant. The first thing the radicle does is grow straight down to find water to supply future leaves with the water they need to photosynthesize.
If the radicle fails to achieve the goal of course the plant dies. This early root development also anchors the plant in the soil so it stays rooted when the wind blows or an animal nibbles on the leaves. If the cotyledons popped out of the ground first they wouldn’t last long without a radicle supporting them. BTW, the embryonic stem is called a hypocotyl, and above that are tiny leaves called cotyledons which support the plant until the true leaves emerge.
If we use a seed as a metaphor for our lives we can understand why we must be rooted in something before we can flourish and grow to our true potential. Are we rooted in truths or falsehoods? Are we rooted in living soil or lifeless soil? Are we rooted in damaged or poisoned soil? Are we rooted at all? Do we let our roots find wholesome nutrients through organic symbiosis with beneficial helpers or do we consistently feed our roots with expensive bottle nutrients that quickly wash away after a heavy rain leaving us starving? Are we trying to grow big leaves before our roots are ready to support our height? Have we considered mulching our soil to prepare for times of drought? Have we allowed spiritual fungi to touch our roots and extend our nutrient-gathering capacity far beyond our immediate location?
What in the world is spiritual fungi? I would liken spiritual fungi to pathways that connect us to truth. Spiritual food (truth) is available to our small root system if we’re aware of and welcome connections to truth. Spiritually speaking the Holy Spirit or “still small voice” is a servant of God who confirms the truth and wisdom of all things if we seek that connection. Some faiths believe that God is inside all of us. Certainly, every human is endowed with a divine spark or His spiritual DNA but if God is only inside us all that is required for us to thrive is an internal connection. If that’s you please don’t feel judged.
Connecting with or knowing your true self is really important and I believe connection with creation (all earthly things) is necessary but I think there is more to experience beyond this earthly realm. If connecting to creation is good then connecting to “The Creator” who is God is so good it’s difficult for me to comprehend. We should try to connect with Him. When we ask for that connection in the name of Jesus Christ we can commune with Him. At any point in our day, we can do that and the Holy Spirit can testify of the truthfulness of all things when we listen closely with our heart and mind.
As we nurture spiritual pathways and trust in these connections our spiritual root system will expand which will increase our understanding. The healthier our roots get the more delicious and nutritious our fruit will become and the longer our season of harvest becomes. Then we can share our fruits with others. It all starts with a radicle idea. May you always have a living root in your soil.
Adam
P.S. Look at the very first asparagus harvest we’ve ever been blessed with! My wife and I broke off a piece and ate it right there in the garden. It was the best vegetable I’ve ever eaten. It wasn’t tough or stringy at all and it tasted very sweet almost like sugar snap peas. I’ve never tasted such a contrast from store-bought produce. You need to grow some!