I have never thought of the way agriculture teaches patience.

But it does, if you think about it.

See, plants are never in a hurry are they?

You can plant them correctly and water and fertilize them the best you can – but what can you do past that? Maybe tend the weeds a little.

You can watch, you can wait, and you can hope.

There nearly seems to be something spiritual about it.

“I like the slow pace of agriculture, where you ask the crops to come, and they come when they come, not when you ask them, so slow you can’t see them for months. They unfold under an inch of soil like children in wombs, keeping their own time. No wishful thinking.”

–Donald Miller, Through Painted Deserts