Faith and Patience

The first tiny leaves of Colocasia ‘Tea Cups,’ which overwintered outside in a large pot, and finally showed itself this weekend to prove it is still alive.

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Fear and faith often compete for our attention.  How often do we preface a thought with, “I’m afraid….,” ? 

Faith requires great patience.  It asks us to overlook the passage of time as we wait for what we want and need to manifest.  When fear wins, we let go of faith and give up our positive attitude of hope.

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Caladium ‘Desert Sunset’ survived winter in this pot, though I feared all the tubers were lost. Here it is shooting up around the Calla lilies and annuals I planted last month.

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We may explain it away as being ‘realistic.’  We might give any number of plausible reasons for surrendering to fear.  But a hallmark of integrity and strength is one who has faith in an eventual positive outcome, who can look away from fear and remain hopeful.

I believe that gardening teaches us this lesson above all others.  The work of a gardener requires great faith, whether we are planting something in the Earth, waiting for spring to unfold, rejuvenating a shrub through heavy pruning, or simply sharing a plant with someone else who hopes to grow it on for themselves.

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In all of our work as gardeners, we maintain faith that our vision will eventually manifest, perhaps even better than we can possibly imagine it.

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Zantedeschia, which overwintered in the garden, and came back three times the size it was last year.

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I got a hard reminder of this from another gardener this week.  Earlier this spring, I admitted that I was ‘afraid’ that some Caladium tubers I’d saved and some Colocasia tubers I’d left outside over winter hadn’t made it.  I was afraid they were lost to winter’s cold, and replanted the pots with something else.  I gave up too easily….

My gardening friend chided me with a quotation from the Gospel of Matthew:  “Oh ye of little faith!” And  of course, he was right.  I wasn’t so much afraid as I was tired of waiting.  In my hurry to keep my pots productive, I gave up too soon.  I didn’t allow nature the time it needed to initiate the miracle of new growth.

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But even through my lack of faith, these tiny bits of life have grown, sprouting new leaves, and proving to me that they have endured.

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Faith can be defined as: a strongly held unshakeable belief; confidence; complete trust; an obligation of loyalty; and a belief in that which cannot be seen or proven.

It is by maintaining our faith in our aspirations that they may eventually be realized.

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The fruits of Friday’s marathon planting efforts, ready to grow into their positive potential.

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Often the difference between success in our endeavor, or failure, is only a matter of how long we can sustain our efforts and our faith.  We can give up or give in too soon!

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And so our eventual success often hinges on our ability to patiently wait for nature’s process to unfold.

When we hold on to our faith in the positive outcome we envision, we have that proverbial ‘”faith like a grain of mustard seed, …   and nothing will be impossible for you.”  Mathew 17:20

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These Cannas, given to me by a dear friend in the weeks after our front garden was devastated by a storm, encouraged me to keep faith in re-making the garden.

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Faith becomes a very practical source of strength.  It is a stubbornness which demands the best from ourselves, the best from our environment, and the best from others in our lives.

In its essence, it is an unshakeable belief in the endless positive potential of the universe.  And that is what we gardeners are always about, isn’t it?

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Woodland Gnome 2017

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He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?”

Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves,

and it was completely calm.    Matthew 8:26

About woodlandgnome

Lifelong teacher and gardener.

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