Christian Dimension

Faith and The Garden

By Joseph C. Neiman

It Works! You plant that seed in the soil which you have worked, water it now and again, and the results are tremendous – behold a crop!

Faith is like that. Thru baptism the seed of union with God is planted and one becomes a member of the People of God. Like the garden seed a full crop of Christian life can appear if we water, hoe, and care for the budding plant. The warmth of Christ’s love and the love from other Christians bathe the growing plant of faith with needed security and spiritual life food. The hoe of penance, a sincere searching for forgiveness from our sins and a real consistent effort to remove the weeds of our bad faults will allow the seed to faith to push thru the soil of daily life and rise to heights above it.

Like the cucumber vine the seed of faith eventually reaches a point where it blossoms forth into fruits. Again and again it will blossom if the weeds are kept back and the sun and rain continue to fall.

Sometimes there are those days when the storms of daily life tear at the roots of faith, but if the roots are strong, the storm is weathered and the vine continues to grow. Occasional dry spells seek to weaken faith also. The warm sun of God’s love can sometimes be too much for humans weakened by lack of attention to the growth of faith.

As the summer passes and the gardens grow, we might learn a lesson about our seed of faith and hoe when needed also.

SUDDENLY THERE HE STOOD!

It happened one day this spring that a man of senior years passed away. Suddenly there he stood before the throne of God, Almighty. (Which proves that the rumor about God is dead must be false.) The conversation in that lofty moment went something like this.

God: "Well, my son, welcome home. Let’s see what your life away has been like."

Old man: " Gosh, Lord, don’t look too close. I thought that you were dead and, well, I did not know what you wanted me to do in y life anyway. How was I to know what was right and what was wrong?"

God: "Well, my son, didn’t you read that letter I sent to you?"

Old man: "What letter? You never sent me anything telling me what to do?"

God: "The letter was addressed to you personally and it was even delivered to you personally and explained to you personally. I guess you didn’t believe it or recognize it."

Old man: "You mean the Bible? You mean the pastor’s sermon? You mean the words of advice from my wife and friends? These were your letter? Why, we have a Bible home on the shelf – I’ve even told the kids to read it – but I never thought it was anything more than some old stories about what you were like and what Christ was like. I never thought it was a letter addressed to me!"

God: "Well, my son, that is what life is like – a choice. If you had chosen differently, you might have given me more choice now!"