If you are fortunate to have a garden, however large or small, during these times of pandemic, you have probably spent more time in it than usual. You may have noticed the creatures that share your garden with you, who either have made it their home, or are passing visitors. Observing these creatures, their habits and the way they live, can, I believe give us an insight into the nature of God and may enable us to reflect on our response to Him and to one another.
EARTHWORMS
Not pretty, not pollinators , not seen ( unless hanging from the beak of a bird, or disturbed by a garden fork) but absolutely vital to our garden. Earthworms have been described as ‘ecosystem engineers’ and Charles Darwin named them ‘nature’s ploughs’. Whilst we sit in our gardens, or enjoy the view of it from our armchair, now that Winter has arrived , our earthworms are hard at work, hidden beneath the grass, the flower borders and veg patch, mixing the soil layers together, and incorporating them to release nutrients from organic matter which improves the fertility of the soil and is then made available to grow healthy plants. And another advantage – which the earthworm itself is probably not too keen on – they are nutritious food themselves for birds, mammals and invertebrates.
So why should we be concerned about a rather ugly creature that most of the time we can’t even see in our garden? Because without them, healthy growth just does not happen.
It’s a bit like not being able to see God himself, but seeing evidence of him all around us.
As the Psalmist writes, ‘Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting, you are God’.
( Psalm 90:2)
Of course, we see God’s creative handiwork everywhere in landscape, seascape, sky, animals, birds, human beings and even in our gardens, but where else is God at work, often in an unseen way?
A helping hand, a kind word, an encouraging smile, an unexpected welcome phone call – all are God at work in the world.
Sponsoring a child’s education, filling a shoebox, helping at a night shelter, dropping off groceries at a food bank – all are God at work in the world.
Practically caring for a neighbour, volunteering at a hospice, putting a pound in a charity tin – all are God at work in the world.
Never underestimate the work a humble earthworm does, unseen, in your garden, and never underestimate how God is at work, in unseen and humble ways, in the world.