Walking In Circles
Jesus used gardening analogies to explain principles of spiritual growth to His disciples. He used illustrations of: planting, watering, good/bad soil, pruning, burning, grafting, weeding, fruitfulness, harvesting…
Taking this cue from Jesus, early Christian teachers made explicit comparisons between annual growth cycles and the seasonal patterns of spiritual progress: they observed how mature spiritual growth happens through repeated cycles, or "seasons".
Most of us – being brought up with Western paradigms – imagine a constant upward progression in our spiritual journey. We expect that trajectory of growth for ourselves and for our children.
Eastern Christians, though, saw spiritual progress more like a spiral staircase. From above, the spiral staircase appears to be a path of repeated circles – a path that journeys round and round, time and again – like the seasons of a year: spring, summer, autumn, winter, only to arrive back again at spring.
However, a spiral staircase does progress upward – even if it feels as though we’ve travelled a complete circle: the same struggles, victories, and lessons we’ve experienced before.
It is through the cyclical repetition that God takes us deeper and we progress “upward” – especially when it is difficult for us to remain in a particular season of life, season of parenting, or of spiritual growth.
Many of us tend to “try harder” when we feel stuck, imagining our spiritual journey to be a straight line. But Eastern teachers would encourage us to stop striving. To submit to the hand of The Gardener – tuning in to what He might be doing for us and to us in that season.
As we learn how to walk with our children in their spiritual journeys – their physical, psychological, and emotional journeys, too – it is good to bear in mind that re-cycling through a season does not preclude “progress”. And in seasons devoid of visible signs of growth, growth is still happening beneath the surface.
Below is a brief summary of the cyclical seasons in our spiritual journeys.
[Some tips for consideration: in Scripture, God the Father is compared to sunlight, Jesus is the soil and root system, and the Holy Spirit is compared to life-giving water.]
• • •
Spring – is a season where God’s Spirit is creeping in. There is a thaw. The early morning frost encourages new life. New things are springing up. Beauty is coming. It is a time for gently removing dead growth from the last cycle, and for planting anew. It is a time for considering what is coming. A time to be delightfully surprised.
Summer – is a season of fullness. The sun is warming – making the days long and bringing full signs of life. A full bloom has happened and is somewhat fading. Growth is everywhere – sometimes wildly so. Weeding is needed. It is a busy season. A time for diligence.
Autumn – is a season of maturity. The fruit is good and is harvested, but signs of new growth are leaving. Things are returning to the ground. This is a time for pruning – cutting back to what is essential. Cutting some of the wild growth from the last season. It is also a time for celebrating fruitfulness, and for feasting.
Winter – is a season of death, or hibernation. Old things are dying in anticipation of new things in the next season. On the surface it is cold and the ground is hard. But underneath, the death of last year is renewing the soil. It is a time for incubating – things are stirring underneath, sometimes inexplicably so, as they get ready to emerge in the spring. It is a time for rest and patience.
Submitting to The Gardener and being gardeners of our children can feel overwhelming. But in the end it is a natural process that we participate in – we don't govern it. In the end it really comes down to "remaining" – keeping roots in the constant flow of water:
[Whoever’s trust and confidence is in the LORD]
will be like a tree planted by water:
it sends its roots out toward a stream,
it doesn’t fear when heat comes,
and its foliage remains green.
It will not worry in a year of drought
or cease producing fruit.
– Jeremiah 17:7, 8