Third-Day Plantings

“Then God said, ‘Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth’; and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. So the evening and the morning were the third day.” (Genesis 1:11–13)

I give God thanks for onions. And purple hull peas, juicy tomatoes, summer squash, and homemade bread. Sweet corn, sweet peppers, hot peppers, and fried okra. God be thanked for rice, steaming, with loads of butter and salt; a plateful of pasta, drowned in tomato and meat sauce; rolled oats or a bowl full of grits, accompanied by, among other things, warm toast, fresh from the oven, hidden comprehensively by blackberry jelly. I give God thanks for peach pound cake, frozen blueberries with a little cream poured over them, watermelon on a sweaty August afternoon, warm butternut squash pie on a crisp autumn day. I give God thanks for peanuts, pecans, pistachios, and almonds; for grapefruit, oranges, apples, and grapes; for figs, plums, nectarines, and cantaloupe. Fruits and “herbs,” each according to its kind, and the list isn’t even half begun. God saw that it was good. I see it too. Give thanks to God.

I give thanks for grass to mow and weeds to pull, for thistle and clover, for dandelions and even ragweed. I give God thanks for day lilies, Easter lilies, tulips, and irises; for petunias, pansies, periwinkles, roses, azaleas, daisies, begonias, and creeping flox. I give God thanks for the pine trees that built my house, for the oak and elm that shade it. I give Him thanks for dogwood and redbuds in the spring, maples and hickory and sweetgum in the fall.

And the list goes on and on and on. A whole world full of trees and bushes and grasses and vegetables and fruit and flowers and moss and seaweed and mushrooms, all reseeding themselves, generation after generation, year after year, blessing their Creator, and blessing those made in His image.

“Lord God, for all this, we give You thanks—for the provision, for the beauty, for the taste of good food, for the sight and smell of flowers, for the feel of the grass between our toes, for the sound of the wind in the leaves of the trees. Thank You, dear God, for the Tree of Life, the Bread of Life, the Vine in Whom You have made us branches, our Lord Jesus Christ. Plant us firmly in Him, run our roots deep into the soil of Your Word, and produce within us and through us the holy fruit of Your Holy Spirit, we pray in Christ's name. Amen.”