Thank you, Karen Eastlund for our June Spiritual Journey prompt about looking back and then looking forward. You can read our cohort’s reflections at her blog here.
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I write this on a Monday following what feels like a weeklong celebration of love and family. Wedding #6 –of 8 this year (for my husband and me).
The etymology of celebration conveys a sampling of how I feel today:
honoring; festivities; numerous attendance; ceremony;
much frequented; great numbers;
make widely known
Looking back, I think about this couple –my niece and her husband. They’ve known one another since they were 14. We think we prepare for and plan weddings for maybe a year ahead of time. These two have been preparing for a lifetime of love together for 12 years –even if he didn’t know it (my niece knew the day she met him – how darling is that??).
Someone told me early in my own marriage– the events, experiences, joys, sadness, the greatest and the smallest of details – each is a preparation for the next. I confess I did not comprehend the depth of this observation. My first ten years out of college, I worked in Tech. I grew to feel that my work was merely contributing to an already wealthy company’s fat bottom line. When I left that job, my administrative and organization skills turned out to be invaluable in helping to bring a spiritual formation program to children in our Catholic parish.
Someone needed to take the lead. Someone needed to articulate and translate the beauty and importance of nurturing the spiritual life of children to those who were making decisions in this parish. That someone turned out to be me. We not only introduced a beautiful process into this community; we built a community of support and love that touched over 200 families –and who knows what the ripple effects were from there?
And I thought I had been wasting my time those ten years in Tech.
That period of my life became more clear to me in hindsight. I did not see value in my work back then. Perhaps the seeds needed time to germinate, to take root. They needed others to nurture and tend the soil before they could grow.
I carry these words with me, part of an oft-quoted (and misquoted!) prayer:
We plant the seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted, knowing they hold future promise.
Fast forward to today. I’m 64 (and a half). I write picture books and children’s poetry. If I live 25 more years, who knows where those words may land? Which is to say, there are no wasted days. No wasted gifts. There is only opportunity to do good, to touch the people with whom you interact –family, friends, co-workers, strangers.
a prayer for looking forward
let me be a seed-planter
of love and support
let my thoughts nest in good soil
let my words lay gently in wait
like the blue jay’s eggs
trusting in a mama’s promise
that I may be
someone’s prayer
to act justly
love mercy
walk humbly
©draft, Patricia J. Franz
Patricia Franz writes picture books and poetry. She believes children, dogs, and sourdough have a lot to teach us about life, joy, and wonder. She has raised two boys, four dogs, and holds a master’s degree in Theology with a focus on children’s spirituality. Patricia, her husband, her Bernese Mountain dog, Bonny, and her sourdough starter split their time between the Arizona desert and the Sierra Nevada mountains. 
Patricia, “there is only opportunity to do good….” These are powerful words to live by, yet it amazes me how many people deliberately look for ways to hurt others. At a young age, we so often know or realize the impact of what we are doing will have on our future selves. I am sure there are many people who are so glad you took the lead in your parish. May you continue to plant seeds.
Patricia: This is a great lesson, Patricia. So you are an organizer, a faith leader, and a gardener! I like your poem: the mama blue jay, the actions at the end. Thank you for sharing these insights.