The Cultivator

   I've just come in from mowing my lawn at 9 at night. (Yes, it's very dark in FL at this time.) I arrived home at about 8:30 to remember that this was the only day all week that would be dry enough to mow. (NOT complaining, dear NW friends). The neighbors were probably wondering what nut was out there mowing in the dark.
   However, as I was approaching each cultivated plant, trying to be careful not to demolish it,  I remembered the book The Secret Life of Plants, in which botanical research demonstrated that plants do respond to human emotion. (All right, now I promise I'm still not crazy. Every good physicist worth his salt now knows that the building blocks of matter are 'spiritual,' not physical. They just don't know their Source. A discussion for another day.) Anyway,  I wanted to reassure my plants that they didn't have to worry. No matter how closely I approached them with the mower, I would never harm them.
   God spoke to me then...that it is often like that with us and our unfounded fears. He is the Master Gardener. No matter how close danger comes, He will always care for us. He would never run us over in the execution of his Landscaping plans. He has nurtured us all our lives. Why would we ever think He would suddenly abandon us to destruction? Instead, He tenderly cultivates* us with attention to the tiniest details of our lives, even when the storm comes to batter us and bend us down.  Though the grass of the earth may need to be mown down to bring to light what is a deceptively beautiful weed vs a true fruit-bearing plant...and where true beauty and nourishment can be found, yet the Gardener is to be trusted.

"Let the peace of God rule in your hearts" this night...
******************
*cultivate: "to promote or nurture the growth of by labor and attention; to devote oneself to..."
He is passionately devoted to us, as a father to his children. Are we so to Him in return?