Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Cultivating

What does it mean to…  cul·ti·vate ?
 verb \ˈkəl-tə-ˌvāt\
transitive verb
1
: to prepare or prepare and use for the raising of crops; also: to loosen or break up the soil about (growing plants)
2
a : to foster the growth of <cultivate vegetables>b : culture 2ac : to improve by labor, care, or study : refine <cultivate the mind>
3
: furtherencourage <cultivate the arts>
4
: to seek the society of : make friends with

How does it feel to be…  cul·ti·va·ted ?

Seeds fell.
Rain descended, and sunlight.
Soil… windswept, hardened, barren,
ensnared in armor, increasingly impenetrable.

Abrupt blows of plow, of spade,
putrid waste, rotting refuse
stirred within, throughout.

Seeds fell.
Rain descended, and sunlight.
Soil… quietly breaking, moving,
cradling, nurturing infant growth.

Nutrients amid rot, decay, death,
decomposing, feeding life,
offering shade, fruit, new seeds...

“Do not fret
[F.R.E.T. ~ Forfeiting Rest, Eluding Trust]
because of evildoers,
be not envious toward wrongdoers.
For they will wither quickly like the grass
and fade like the green herb.
Trust in the Lord and do good;
dwell in the land
 and cultivate faithfulness...”
~Psalm 37:1-3

To be broken, refined, studied, broadened, changed,
is not to be comfortable…
…cultivation hurts.

How can rot and refuse and brokenness produce goodness?

My food is not the broken, decomposing soil.
My food is fed by the broken, decomposing soil.

…and so it is with the cultivation of faithfulness.

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