“It is like a tiny mustard seed that a man planted in a garden; it grows and becomes a tree, and the birds make nests in its branches.”

The New York Times Editorial writer, David Brooks recently wrote on finding and knowing one’s purpose.  What he found from the query of his readers is that most people do not have as their purpose to change or master the world. Instead, most people find joy and purpose in the “everydayness” of life as a parent, a dependable worker, or as a friend.  What most struck me was the value that many people put on gardening as part of the purpose.  I have read many studies about how when we reach mid-life that gardening becomes an interest of many.  Not everyone, but a large percentage begin to look upon gardening as a way of tending, caring, and fulfilling a need inside of us to be a part of things that grow.  It might be that we have finished our child rearing or that we have completed what we can to help a business grow, but I think there is more to it. I think our minds are looking for a way to engage that feels measurable and at the same time purposeful that we can control.  Consider that this is what work has been about since the beginning.  When we keep those things that are measurable and purposeful in front of our employes then our companies become our gardens and we can watch our gardens grow.

From the beginning God put gardens in front of us to consider as metaphors for growth, change and what is important in our lives.  We found creation in the garden of Eden and we were brought into God’s inner mind when we read of the events in the Garden of Gethsemene. And in order to grow, we need to be garden-minded, always thinking of what we can plant, tend, prune, and harvest in and out of our lives. All around us, God provides seeds that He gives each of us to plant and at the same time we face those things that try to infiltrate and invade our lives that look like weeds and life-killing insects. So, the question today is, what garden are we watching over?  Are we being garden-minded at work?  Are we feeding, watering, tending the most important garden we are given…our souls?

Reference: Luke 13:19 (New Living Translation)