From my window, I can see several trees. A few weeks ago, they were bare sticks. A few weeks before that, they were coated with snow. But today, they are flush with blossoms: one white, another pale pink, the third a brilliant fuchsia. The grass, once a sickly yellow, is now deep green. Spring has come.
In my garden, flowers have been bursting forth for weeks: first crocus, then daffodils, now tulips, and forget-me-nots, with their delicate blooms nodding in the shady corner of the yard.
I also have herbs and asparagus, which come up every year. I put the first few spears into a salad this week.
Growth, given the right conditions, happens. The flowers that appeared dead all winter respond to the April rains by poking through the soil, coming to life again.
All around us, even here in Chicago, we see growth. The trees have regained their leaves, no longer embarrassingly naked. Flowers come up, and weeds do to. I took my four-year-old nephew to the park the other day, and on the way home he told me that we could “follow the dandelions” to get home, since they lined the sidewalk. If you work with four-year-olds you might be able to appreciate his logic.
This transformation inspires me to take a look at what’s growing—in my soul. What, if anything, is growing there?
How about you? Do you see growth in your life? If not, you may think you need to try harder. I disagree. My kids can’t get taller by trying. My flowers don’t try. They simply grow, if they have the right conditions.
The question is: how do we create the right conditions? We make sure the plants have water, that the soil is good. I can also stimulate growth by clearing away winter’s debris and pruning back dead stalks. It’s hard for new growth to happen when the flowers are buried under dead leaves or crowded together. If I create some space and the right conditions, God does the rest.
We grow spiritually when we arrange our lives in such a way that growth can happen, too. This seems obvious perhaps, but it still begs the same question—how can growth happen? Like flowers, our souls need to have space. One of the greatest barriers to spiritual growth is that our lives are crowded and hurried. They’re crammed with the dead leaves of stuff and obligations and until we clear out some space, growth is restricted.
The disciplines of solitude and silence are excellent ways to create some space in our lives. But in order to make time for solitude, we need to examine the overall pace of our lives. Have you said yes more often than you should? Is your life crowded and overwhelming? Do you have too much stuff and you’re still adding more? Perhaps the first step toward growth should be to prune your schedule or stop buying so much stuff to create some space for God to produce growth.
Solitude shouldn’t just happen occasionally, but regularly to create margin. Margin provides a little extra space, a little cushion. When we live with a decent amount of margin in our daily lives, we allow space for God in our daily interactions. We’re more available for divine interruptions.
What’s growing in your soul? The Bible says the fruit that God wants to grow in our lives, the thing the Spirit is cultivating, is a life of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control. (see Galatians 5:23) This is not a to-do list for you—it’s God’s intention for your life. These are all measures of growth. Have you become more peaceful, more patient? Working with children can grow these things in us.
Serving creates space for God to work, too. Serving is one spiritual practice that helps us to grow. But we still need to have times of solitude, of quietness. Like sun and rain in the garden, solitude and service work in tandem to facilitate growth.
Which leads us to a second question: Who is tending the garden of your soul? That’s not a question to inspire guilt, because it’s not entirely up to you to take care of your soul. God would like to be involved, I think.
As you notice the growth of spring around you in nature, take time to notice what’s growing—beautiful blooms and perhaps a few weeds that need to be pulled. God is working in the garden of your soul, inviting you to join in the miraculous process of growth.
Keri Wyatt Kent is a freelance writer, speaker and author of seven books, including Rest: Living in Sabbath Simplicity. Learn more at www.SabbathSimplicity.com
