Prepare

Noah and his Ama are where you’d expect to find them: in the garden. He kneels in the dirt and plants a variety of brassicas, not because we need any extra, but because she knows the approximate intervals of his future visits and out of all the other possibilities, the great drab plants will show the most impressive progress each time. They talk all the while and he is schooled in photosynthesis, pollination, likely pests, compost, soil structure and the virtues of earthworms and bees. He’s learning what it means to wait months for the rewards of his labours. He’s assimilating the feel of warm soil and its smell. He’s learning what it is like to have someone in his life who loves him so much she will open up her very favourite thing, so that it can include him. He’s learning to prepare: that you get out what you put in, but if you do it carefully and wisely there is a pretty attractive interest rate.

He is, himself, being prepared, of course. He will be a better and wiser adult for the lessons he’s learning today, because souls and gardens work on very similar principles much of the time. it’s why Genesis uses the metaphors it does, I suppose. And Jesus for that matter.

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