After my quarantine, I went back to our garden and saw some vegetables ready for harvest. After almost three months, we had our first harvest this week. I understand the feeling of a farmer. It is a joy to behold.

These are the lessons that I learned from plants.

1. The quality of the soil determines the quality of the plant. Take care of the soil.
2. Each growing plant needs to be regularly cultivated. Everyone needs some breathing space, right?
3. You can talk to your plants to make it grow. After that, you can listen to them to make you flourish.
4. Plants take time to grow. We can only wait. Patience is the virtue of a farmer.
5. Plants look up and point their leaves to the sunrise. For we all need sun in our lives.
6. Each plant is unique. Some needs water more, others less. Some needs sunshine more, others less. Uniqueness is part of the circle of life.
7. It is good not to see them for some time. You will miss them. Maybe they will miss you too. When you come back, they have already grown, and it is a happy reunion.
8. There were times when I wanted to give up on one plant. But I gave it a chance to live; more fertilizer and extra care. Then, it grew without my knowing. Caring truly matters.
9. Even after extra care, some plants die anyway. Dying and decaying is also part of the living. But we continue in the hope that the soil will transform it to fertilize a new life in the space it has left.
10. Harvest is an experience of joy. You feel that your labor has borne fruit. The veggies are tastier when your own sweat has already given taste to the soil where it grew.

In all, I am grateful for the health that God gave back to me, and for keeping me safe during those trying times. I am also thankful for all persons who accompanied me in my quarantine and in the garden. Life is easier when you have company.

Like all first fruits, I offer these harvests to the God of life in thanksgiving. “The best of the first fruits of your ground you shall bring to the house of the Lord your God” (Exodus 34: 26)

Daniel Franklin Pilario, C.M.
St. Vincent School of Theology
Adamson University
danielfranklinpilario@yahoo.com
09.12.2020