Right now I am reading an advance copy of a book coming out in February from Ancient Faith Publishing, called Tending the Garden of Our Hearts: Daily Lenten Meditations for Families. I'll be reviewing the book when I'm finished, and I'll have lots more to say about it then. (Spoiler: I love it!) But the title got me thinking about how the idea of "tending the garden of our hearts" is a lot like the title of this blog, Hopeful Patience.
Honestly, I am not the sort of person who seeks out gardening--in part, I think, because it involves patience! But, really, the times I've helped with aspects of gardening, like watering friends' plants during a vacation, it doesn't feel like an intuitive arena to me. I know people who see gardening as a hobby, a "day off" sort of activity, and I can't relate to that mindset. However, I can see a lot to be gained by using gardening as a metaphor.
In order to garden, one must have hope, and one must hold onto hope in order to keep tending one's garden. Results do not appear quickly, so the planter has to be ready to keep at the work, day after day, looking toward the time in the future when plants will blossom and fruit will come. At the same time, those who really take to gardening clearly gain enjoyment not just from the moment when they see the results of their labor; they find peace and joy in simple actions like faithfully watering their plants.
And, clearly, this is what "hopeful patience" is about: maintaining hope while I choose patience, and finding the joy of the Lord in the daily actions that I'm doing as I move along the path of my life. I don't think patience is about merely enduring until the thing that I long for happens; I think godly patience seeks out God's gifts in the waiting, and thereby gains the strength to wait.
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