“If we plant a flower or a shrub and water it daily it will grow so tall that in time we shall need a spade and a hoe to uproot it.  It is just so, I think, when we commit a fault, however small, each day, and do not cure ourselves of it.”

— St. Teresa of Avila

It has been a challenging season for the gardener in me.  It began with early drought-like conditions that meant carrying water to keep the seedlings growing.  When the rains came we were thankful, because we knew that now our garden would survive and we would enjoy its bounty.  When the rains kept coming, day after day, we watched the ripening tomatoes explode and decay on the vines as the overabundance of water caused their flesh to grow beyond the limits of their skins.  Before long, we simply stayed out of the ankle-deep puddles that had formed in our backyard and let the garden do what it might until the weather cleared.  As the season ends, and we watch the vines die early this year, we realize that we have much to learn about gardening in such conditions.  What began as a beautiful dream of summer growth now is a dying patch of earth where the weeds have survived more strongly than the plants we envisioned last Spring.

How often do we allow our lives to grow as chaotically as my summer garden?  We plant good things and dream of the way they will grow and flourish and touch our world; but when the rains come we hide inside, afraid to get wet, and let our plans decay and die.  How often, just as it was for my garden this summer, do we see that it is too much of something good that is our downfall.  Rain is a good thing for a garden.  Without water, the plants cannot grow and produce.  Too much rain can wash away our dreams and leave only the weeds behind to flourish in their place.  The same is true for the way we live our lives.  Without moderation, we can wake up one day to find that our dreams have been consumed by things that have taken over our days rather than enriching them.  In our life journey, just as in our gardens, we must tend what we plant and pay attention to the small distractions before they grow into sprawling weeds that crowd out the things we have planted and replace them with others than do not belong.  We must tend our gardens.  We must keep our intentions strong and fresh and well cared for.  It is not enough to plant a seed.  We must have our hoes handy and see that the weeds do not creep in.  Dreams are worth tending.