Seed speculations

It seems like an odd time of year to be thinking about seeds.

It began over the weekend, when my husband got to thinking about God’s provision of seed-bearing plants very early in the creation story. He’s been thinking about the investment of time and resources as seeds, a metaphor Jesus uses often in his parables.

Coincidentally, the seed preoccupation continued with my daughter’s birthday party, where we made two seed crafts.

The first is from an idea Alice posted on her blog.

That’s grass seed in there, along with a Christmas cactus cutting. “God sent new life into the world in Jesus,” I explained to the kids. “And when we invite him into our hearts, God plants new life in us, too.”

“I don’t think he grows like grass,” replied one little girl.

I refuse to be moved — I like my metaphor! These ornaments are a perfect object lesson — or at least, they will be if the seeds actually sprout (which they haven’t — yet).

To plant a seed and see it grow
Is something every child should do,

And when it blossoms, how it grew
Is something every child should know,

And when its seeds are ripe to sow,
A child may see the old made new.

To grow and gently grow and grow
Is something people should do too.

(Harry Behn, “Lesson)

The second craft was pine cone bird feeders.

Our family ended up with several, since both daughters made one, and I did too. We hung a few in the evergreen out back, and we’ve gotten lots of entertainment out of watching the squirrels.

These squirrels are planters themselves, burying their winter stores here, there and everywhere. I’m sure they’re largely responsible for the grove of walnut trees on our back bank.

Last but not least comes Anno’s Magic Seeds, a thoroughly wonderful picture book that explores the concept of multiplication. I bought it awhile ago at a book sale, wrapped it up to give to my daughter on her birthday, and forgot about it. So it was like getting a present myself this week, too. It’s a simple story about Jack, who gets some seeds from a wizard and learns how to provide for an ever-growing number of people, as well as how to save and plan so that even natural disaster doesn’t destroy him. The “magic” is really the everyday magic of seed-bearing plants, cultivated with common sense. There is something I really love about this book, and I recommend it highly.

It’s strange to me to see such a strong theme being worked out without any forethought, especially a theme that seems more suited to the spring.