St. Francis on Life and Gardening

St. Francis of Assisi was hoeing his garden when someone asked what he would do if he were suddenly to learn that he would die before sunset that very day.  I would finish hoeing my garden,“ he replied.
--Louis Fisher

“This response speaks of two things: One, it speaks to the value of the material work we are called to do. This work is consistent with and, in some ways, tied to the larger question of eternal salvation. This work is not merely to turn a profit or pass the time—it has eternal significance. It matters. It also matters how we do that work. If this work, even hoeing a row of beans, is important enough to persevere at until the end of the world, then it needs to be approached with a kind of reverence and respect.” Bishop Robert F. Vasa

Photo credits: I Heart Hoeing and Wikimedia Commons