Frost and Failure

I am fully aware that it has been over a month since my last post, but I have been journaling and writing on paper so look for many posts in the coming weeks.

Since I started blogging about my faith connection to gardening I have been journeying deeper and deeper in my relationship with creation and its Divine Creator.  I have experienced the joy found in the birth of a radish sprout, cheered on the excelling cucumber mound, and waged war against the ever invading weeds.

The first weeks of the garden are quiet, but just under the soil is a growing silent crescendo as the seeds germinate and strive towards the surface and sun.  It reminds me of Isaiah 43:19,"See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?"  

The morning that I noticed the first sprouts of the garden I became very aware that the hard work was still ahead.  Now I must facilitate the best growth for these plants so that they may bear much fruit to the enjoyment of the gardener, me. 

But then the unforeseen occurred...

Frost.

It was not forecasted.  Mother's day, the day usually marked when frosts become rare, had come and gone, but it came anyway.  When I woke up the next morning and step onto my front porch I became eerily aware of it by the sight of my own breath in the crisp cool air. 

Days later I noticed the fading color on the tips of the leaves, and after researching online I realized that the cucumber might not survive or at the very least be unable to grow as effective as it should.

Then I found myself with the lingering question," Does frost equal failure?"

Hindsight remedies began to flood my mind," I should have covered the plants that previous night. I should have sprayed water on the plants to wash off the frost in order to lessen the damage."  

I began to take on the blame of the unforeseen frost.  Even though I had no warning of it, the frost was becoming my fault.  

I failed.

But is that valid?  Or does the frost give me an advantage?

Being a pastor I turn to the scriptures for guidance and discernment.  As I searched the scriptures dealing with failure, I realized that failure is not defined in the Bible as an end of labor due to inability or unforeseen circumstances.  Rather, failure serves as a tool to guide and equip God's people towards the new heaven and earth that is to come.

Yes, failure is a gift.

It reminds us of our boundaries.  As seen in Genesis where God places boundaries on day and night, land and sea, and earth and sky.  The raging tides seek to crash against the land, but the divine boundary set by the Creator of the universe does not allow it to do so.  The Earth's orbit around the sun distributes the life-giving rays for creation, but also provides the cover of darkness so that creation may rest and renew.  Without boundaries or limits, we would never enjoy the harvest of the crops from the fields or the ripening of tomatoes. Failure reminds us of our boundaries.  

Failure reminds that we are all on a journey together. All of creation is venturing together and creation is moving towards newness.  New technology, medical advances, and the evolutionary processes found in plants and animals reveal that creation is striving towards the new heaven and earth.

Failure gives us focus and clarity.  Thomas Edison, the great inventor of the light bulb, is quoted as saying he never failed at making a light bulb, but rather learned how not to make a light bulb thousands of times.  Each attempt brought him closer and closer to the success of a functional light bulb.  Failure shifts our perspective into clarity.  The ambiguity of life is reduced so that we can see better the path leading us to success.

So, failure is a gift.  Just as plants wither, stars implode and human organs fail, failure leads us in our greater understanding of the process that leads us to unity with God.  

I am not counting the frost as failure.  I am more aware, equipped, and prepared for the garden than I was before.  

In closing I am reminded by the words of St. Francis of Assisi:

All creatures of our God and King,

Lift up your voice and with us sing,

Alleluia!

Let all things their Creator bless,

And Worship him in humbleness.

O Praise God, Alleluia!