Day 1347- Planted, Not Buried

Until a seed is planted in the soil and dies, it remains alone. But its death will produce many plants—a plentiful harvest of new lives.

John 12:24- Brian’s Translation

The idea for Grief 2 Growth has been percolating in my head for several weeks. The pieces are coming together. This week I had a cover image created for the Facebook group I inherited. I gave the Facebook group this name, at least temporarily. There’s more to come from Grief 2 Growth. I’m writing this blog as an introduction to where the name came from and the inspiration for the image. There are nineteen days until the first day of Spring. It seems like a good time to write this.

When disasters happen, and grief comes, we feel buried. For me, there was no light, no air, no hope. I couldn’t breathe. Darkness, and cold surrounded me. Grief was all around me, over me, below me. It seemed impossible that I would ever see the surface again. Is this how a seed feels when it falls to the ground from a tree and is covered? Does it know it will one day emerge or does it think it has been forever hidden and forgotten?

Eventually, I felt some warmth. There was no light yet. But, the heat prompted the putting down of roots, anchoring me into this new environment. At this point, things cannot be rushed. The seedling can’t just sprout forth into the air. Cold winds will come along and kill it. It hasn’t gathered the energy to sustain sprouting forth. The seedling first establishes a root structure that will support it for what’s to come. The ground grows warmer and warmer. Finally, the seedling reaches upward toward the source of the warmth. It takes a risk and pokes up above the surface to find air, light, and even more heat. It draws from the soil it was planted in drawing in the dead materials and transforming them to build itself into a vigorous plant. It continues to grow eventually sprouting leaves, flowers, finally fruit, and then… more seeds and more plants.

We can let the tragedies that befall bury us or we can burst forth from the tragedies not only better than we were before. To mix metaphors, we can allow those things things that have fallen on us keep us down or we can take them off of our heads, and stand on them to reach higher.

The intention for Grief 2 Growth is to be the fertilizer for those who have been buried. That’s probably appropriate since some would say I’m full of fertilizer. The roots of Grief 2 Growth are taking hold. In a few weeks, the sprout will come forth.