At first sight, it may seem like a simple observation about planting, but it holds a profound truth about life, growth, and the delicate balance between human effort and natural forces. When we plant a seed, we often assume that the act of burying it in soil is what makes it come to life. We go digging, we cover up, we wet and we wait, in a rush often.
Yet the truth is that it isn’t possible for a seed to germinate from the mere act of ours. It’s Nature bringing all that is dormant within out of bed. The fertility of the ground, the moisture of rain, the warmth of the sun, and perhaps even the patience in time all of these affect the way the seed is raised, the plants that the earth is filled and how it is encouraged from the dead.
Without them, the most painstakingly sowed seed may never budge. This is an image for life beyond gardening! As we embark on our paths of life, we often go into great-scale effort and expect our efforts to yield immediate benefits. We coach, we open doors, we challenge ourselves and others but the end result largely depends on circumstances we don’t know fully how to manage.
Like seeds a seed can only grow if it is nurtured with the right environment support, nurture, patience, and sometimes, without a word, timing and circumstance. But even recognizing the difference between effort and growth can make an integral part of people's contribution, not detract from it. The seed must be planted whether literally in nature or in earth. It is vital to put down (whether literally or metaphorically in life).
Human labor gears, directs and shields, but it is only when time flows harmoniously in the course of nature that real growth is created. If the world prefers direct outcomes, then to remember the wisdom of the seed is both a nice touch and a mighty reminder. Growth whether a plant, a relationship or a thought is not something that can be instantaneously given. We can plant, we can raise, but we also need to trust the process.
Nature will do its part, and, in its time, life blossoms. After all, the magic in a seed’s growth isn’t the sowing of the seed; it is the life that comes from the miracle beyond, that occurs when nature’s quiet, caring labor enriches a potential and brings it to life. Similar to the seed, wait, trust, and allowing the good things to come forth from the seed and the way of the storm shall come to pass is how we must learn to wait as well.
