It’s planting time again.

I’m typing this with hands that are cramped-up from weed pulling, dirt under my nails, knuckles scraped up by thorns, and a wide grin on my face. It’s easy to adore planting season, with all of its promise of growth and harvests to come.

What’s tougher is the long arc of tending that follows, when the hungry deer arrive and the dandelions push past the fresh new mulch and the sun may or may not shine.

Oof. Tending is tedious. It demands constancy and courage and commitment, and all the while no one is cheering us on.

Dear ones, may we find zest for planting, 

courage for tending,

and generosity come harvest time.

And then,

we plant again.

This reflection was inspired by Drs. Preston and Connie Williams, who were celebrated this week at Harvard Divinity School, on the occasion of Dr. Preston Williams’100th birthday and the couple’s 70th wedding anniversary. What a joy to celebrate their lives of scholarship and service – love in action.