March. The garden waited. Just twenty feet of dark soil that needed an afternoon to turn and plant. But there were more important things.
The phone lit up constantly. Messages that felt urgent. Problems requiring immediate response. Exhausted from the day’s necessary tasks, planting could wait. The ground would still be there tomorrow.
May. The garden sprouted only weeds. An hour’s work, maybe two, would clear them. Make room for what should grow. But the notifications kept coming. The deadlines. The demands that couldn’t be ignored. Each day, you looked out at the tangled mess: tomorrow. Definitely tomorrow.
Last year, plants hung heavy with tomatoes, beans climbing their poles. Your hands were dirty. Your back was sore. You’d shown up in March, in May, in the June mornings before it got hot.
August disappeared. September slipped past.
November. Harvest. You stand in the dead garden; the wind finds every gap in your designer jacket. Dried stalks rattle like bones. The soil is cracked and hard. Nothing to pick. Nothing to preserve. Nothing to store.
Inside, the pantry holds enough food for a week, maybe two. After that, what? The grocery money is gone, spent on the urgent things that consumed every day.
The phone is quiet now. All those urgent messages. The screen shows a thousand conversations that produced nothing you can eat.
The cold is coming: the kind that doesn’t negotiate, doesn’t accept excuses about being busy. The ground will freeze. Nothing grows in frozen ground. Spring is four months away, and you have to survive until then on what you harvest.
You stand at the window, watching darkness come earlier each day, and finally understand: the garden didn’t need your intentions. It needed your hands. The harvest didn’t care about your reasons.
Winter doesn’t forgive neglect.
Read Part 2: The Gospel of Prosperity
It seems like the more I worry about tomorrow, the less I actually accomplish today.
Interesting.
Good observation, Dave. Worry about the future can be just as consuming as the urgent demands of today. Thanks for reading.
This certainly makes me reflect on my own decisions and examine my choices. That you for putting into elequaint words, something many of us struggle with. Beautiful!
We all fall short… and then there’s grace. Thank you, Carri.
Excellent writing!
We reap what we sow, don’t we? You urge me to reflect on the imbalance between “work” priorities and “life” essentials…
Too often the sand runs through the hourglass while we are otherwise occupied!
A timely post for Thanksgiving.
Even the seeds of kindness and grace require tending@
“Seeds of kindness and grace require tending”—beautifully and perfectly said. Thank you, K.
I really loved this thoughtful piece. It spoke to so many situations in life…Choices, priorities, perspective, We need to keep moving forward and engaging in life in order to grow and live full lives.
Jane, thank you. You captured it perfectly—it really is about engaging and showing up for what matters.
I wonder if these words could be lyrics that our talented new music director could turn into a song.
I never thought about that, Leslee. Interesting idea… thank you.
Jim, you have hit it right on! I am truly grateful for a day like Thanksgiving where I can focus on, with our family, those things that really matter and make a difference.
This is indeed the time of year that invites us to assess our priorities. This world lacks grace when we neglect the things that sustain us. As always, thank you, Judy.
Great writing!! In the past I have fell into this old habit so many times. As I have gotten older, I am focusing on what is necessary and what is not. This has made my life a lot simpler. To you and your loving family have a Happy Thanksgiving
Hi, Ferrell. It’s wonderful to hear from you! So true, life is simpler when we focus on what truly matters. The decisions we make define us and prepare us for “the harvest.” Take care and have a blessed Thanksgiving.
What a joy to read your writing. New ‘style’ with short, emphatic style, that reads well, punctuates the words, creating a story to remember with a lesson to learn. Well done 👍
Thanks for noticing the style evolution, Jane. It’s taking us somewhere—I hope.
Jim – The photo is super. Great story that hits home. I am like the person in the story when it coes to getting projects completed. I need to stat prioritizing. Thank you for another GREAT story.
Dick, we all need help prioritizing. Everything seems important until we see the results of the effort—nothing to harvest. Thank you for noticing the image. I spend almost as much time on these as on the writing. Go figure.
Well said! It’s so easy to get busy with what feels urgent and forget what’s truly important.
Many thanks for reading, El. We seem to always chase the unimportant, wasting precious time.
Thank you for always putting things into perspective, This is so appropriate now at Thanksgiving, I can certainly relate it to aspects of my life.
Many of us lose sight of the important things—especially this time of year. As always, thank you for reading, Ann.