Gardening gives men a place to discover how to nurture.
It requires gentleness planting sprouts in the soil and holding back the tender leaves to spread mulch beneath their fragile stems. It teaches how to restrain strength, and that careless handling kills. It calls first for observation - seeing the little plant and the life it embodies, and treating it with respect and kindness. When gardeners practice this observation and active gentleness in the garden, they have a method to call upon for encounters in their lives.
There is little that is soft about toiling in the heat of an early summer planting, kneeling and bending, digging and moving, with rows of beds to be filled. When we are tired, gardeners must still excercise the same care as when we were fresh. We give care because care is needed, not because we expect a return. The little plants that die from rough handling speak to this truth.
Care is first seeing the needs of the sprout, and then gently giving it what it needs to thrive. So too, our treatment of others.
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