There once was a man who built a planter box beside his driveway. He filled it with rich topsoil and planted a garden to provide fresh, healthy, natural, food for his family. He believed that the garden would become a ongoing source of joy for his family for years.
The planter box was quickly filled with growing things. The man and his family were delighted to watch how the ground miraculously brought forth food from nothing but small seeds, a box of dirt, and some water.
They were pleased to find that the garden required very little weeding. It appeared that the plants with the larger leaves (like the pumpkins) shaded the ground beneath them and, somehow, discouraged the weeds from growing.
At summer’s end, the harvest was modest, but rewarding, and the plan was to continue the effort each summer from then on.
The second season
The next summer there were discussions about when to plant, but the days somehow got away from the busy family and soon they realized that the planting season was past. The planter box was left empty. Nothing was planted.
However, the planter box did not remain empty for long. At first a few dandelions appeared. Soon the box was producing an abundant crop of thistles, milkweed, and miscellaneous grasses. By midsummer, with no effort on the part of the man, the rich brown topsoil was covered with green, living plants.
But, of course, these plants were not the type to provide food for the family. There would be no joyous harvest time in the Fall. Preparing the planter box to grow food the next season would require that it be cleaned out thoroughly. Even if they did so, the soil now held hidden seeds that will make it harder to keep the weeds away in the future.
The message
Our lives are a planter box. Things will invariably grow there. Eventually, in joy or in sorrow, there will be a harvest. The two important questions are: 1. Who will we allow to plant seeds into our life, and 2. What will we choose to plant (or allow to be planted) in our lives?
Clearly, the best thing to do is to take charge of our own lives and not leave our eventual harvest up to chance, or to others. We must take great care that the seeds we plant are good – but that is not enough.
The garden of our life must be tended to daily. Our growth must be nourished and the weeds in our life must be removed. Even the good things in our life must sometimes be pruned back to allow for stronger future growth.
Autumn comes to everyone’s life much sooner than they expect. The harvest you will reap at that time will depend upon the choices you have made much earlier.
Don’t procrastinate. Get out those (metaphorical) gardening tools and cultivate a better life!
Source:
Based on a true story told by my friend, Matthew Dennis, during a Sacrament Meeting talk in the Orchard Third Ward, North Salt Lake Parkway Stake, on November 13, 2022.
See also:
The Parable of the Sower, Matthew 13: 3-23.
The Parable of the Wheat and the Tares, Matthew 13: 24-30.
Thank you for preserving this simple, powerful analogy Brian!
We taught our 4 year old children in Primary Sunday that if you forgot to plant your seeds, it’s not too late to repent and seed the soil the next season.