“These are the generations of the heaven and the earth, when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the heaven and the earth: And every plant of the field before it sprung up in the earth, and every herb of the ground before it grew: for the Lord God had not rained upon the earth; and there was not a man to till the earth. But a spring rose out of the earth, watering all the surface of the earth.”
And so the Holy Spirit, contented with His description to you of the creation of all things in a broad view, turns to a narrower focus, that of the beginning of the story of mankind, the ones in whom the great love story of life will unfold. This begins with a look at the lack of vegetation on the earth; a curious detail, but not an insignificant one. God had not issued the command for rain, and it was not appropriate to bring forth the plants, only in seed form, forward without someone to “till the earth.” So too do the words of Sacred Scripture rest in the soul that has not realized their true depth, and without love to wash upon these words and a sound teacher to exposit them, they remain as nothing but seeds. However, in the earth of every soul, one can plant seeds of love by word or action, and the hearing of Sacred Scripture only adds to the potential garden that can grow. Through care, love, and immersion in God’s words, these seeds come to grow into a vineyard of love and wisdom, through which the Savior loves to walk: “Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat the fruit of his apple trees” (Song 5:1). Love, however, is always present, and this is what is represented by the spring that waters the ground. It indicates God’s upholding hand, acting at all times to keep his beloved intact. It is the love of God that made, it is the love of God that upholds, it is the love of God that keeps life moving through one’s being. He is never absent, His love is always irrigating the soul, even if it is in the barren, desolate earth of mortal sin. When there is no life of charity in the soul, no one coming in to tend to it, no rains of expressed love to let it bring forth fruit, when all is death and aridity, God still loves the one that is spiritually dead, and He is always giving the life-giving water of love to them, even if they can’t receive it. In their created life, their little love poem, they may be waiting for that little act of love that changes everything. It is said of Mother Teresa that her smile would bring about deep conversions, and there is nothing keeping your smile and loving eyes from impacting a heart in a similar way. Maybe someone has lived a life completely unloved, or untaught, or led astray, and their garden is simply a desert, be the person that comes to till the soil and call in the rain; “Elias was a man passible like unto us… and he prayed again: and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit” (James 5:17-18). Everyone simply wants to be loved, and you are a “fountain of gardens: the well of living waters, which run with a strong stream from Libanus” (Song 4:15); it is expected of you by your Loving King to be that person that gives the living water of love to those whose souls are parched: “I was thirsty, and you gave me to drink” (Matthew 25:35). God upholds their souls with love, but it is the work of humankind to call in the rain of visible love and work to bring forth the fruits of love in each other.