guidance for a seed

for the shell to soften and split
and reveal tender green growth

for the roots to brave rot
and disease, led through
earth and stone

even a tiny seed
finds courage
in Your steadfast love.

it must know that Your hand shepherds it
to sweet sunshine after torrential rain
it must hear that Your benevolence
inspires the starlings' song at joyous dawn
it must see that Your patient love
is carved into the thousand wooden rings
of the nearby tree You watered.

towards rich soil and pure water
to bracing air and ever-yawning sky
like the seed I am pulled from the mire
up from the depths of the earth

tearing away choking weeds,
Your faithful hand brings me
away from dry ground
and into sunwarmed garden.