Tomatoes for Pentecost

Today is Ascension Day on the Christian church calendar, the day the resurrected Jesus "ascended" into heaven, portending the coming of the Holy Spirit during Pentecost, 10 days later. On the early Celtic calendar, May 1 is celebrated as Beltane, the midpoint between the vernal equinox and the summer solstice, when bonfires were lit and petitions were made for a fertile growing season. The days leading up to Ascension Day, or Rogation Days, were times during which parishioners were "to ask" (rogare) God for blessings on the land to assure the fertility of the soil and to bring in a good crop. Two good sermons from this past Sunday, Rogation Sunday, can be found here and here.

As a gardener, I find this time of year to be one of the most exhilarating, as well as the most angst-ridden, times to be in the garden. Exhilarating because I've finished preparing the soil as best I can, and planting; in essence, I've done my part. The rest is largely up to what I think of as "God's gardening"--adequate rainfall, temperate weather, bees and all the other natural wonders of creation that are essential to giving us good things to eat. It's an anxiety-provoking time for humans, because in today's world, when so much emphasis is placed on controlling outcomes, gardening constantly reminds us that once the tiny plant is put into the soil, there is absolutely nothing a human can do to make that tomato plant produce fruit on a schedule that suits us. It's all in God's time. "I am the vine, you are the branches." Jesus could just have well have been talking about a tomato plant! Pentecost is May 11. All of you Greek scholars know that the word means “fiftieth day,” and all of you tomato growers know that fifty days is how long it takes an “Early Girl” to reach maturity. So, if you planted your tomatoes on Good Friday, you could possibly have tomatoes by Pentecost, although they may not be a proper liturgical red by then. On a beautiful day like today, I look at those vines and branches in my garden and realize that whatever is stirring inside of that plant that turns those tiny yellow blooms into ripe, red tomatoes must be something akin to the Holy Spirit. It's a great mystery, it's totally out of human control, and it yields most excellent results if we all live with patience and hope and anticipation!