There is Corn in My Garden

There is corn growing in my meditation garden. There is also corn growing in my yard, in my day lilies, and probably in many other places as yet unknown. I didn’t plant corn. I didn’t even know that it was corn at first. I just pulled up the unusual "weeds" that were popping up all over the place.

It was only after a long stretch of good growing weather - combined with an absence of garden care - that one of the plants grew large enough that even I could see what it was. As I reached to pull out another tall "weed", I finally recognized that it was corn.

But what was corn doing in my carefully designed meditation garden? I think, perhaps, it was a tiny reminder to me that when left alone nature can take care of itself just fine thank you!

I feed corn and peanuts to my wild four leggeds all year round. But deep inside I know they would survive just as well without me. In the summer when food is plentiful they eat only enough seeds and nuts to fuel their bodies. The excess seeds are buried in the ground.

Some of the buried seeds will be dug up later when food is not as plentiful. Other seeds, like the corn that is sprouting all over my yard, will germinate, grow to maturity, and provide even more food.

Of course, all the plants won't make it to maturity. Some die from drought or other natural factors. Others are eaten by grazing animals. Some are mistaken for weeds and pulled out by humans like me!

The seeds that are never dug up, the weeds that are pulled, the plants that die before maturity, the droppings from the grazing animals all eventually decay. In the process they give food and sustenance to millions of tiny microorganisms who turn their "waste" into fertile soil. Soil that will nurture new seeds and start the cycle all over again.

What an astonishing, incredible, beautiful miracle! It is almost impossible to imagine the loving munificence that created such a breathtaking design. Almost impossible but undeniably real. How can you help but see the loving hand of God in these beautiful details of nature?

There is corn in my garden. I think I will leave it there.