Somehow, it came as a shock when I looked at the pots with the tomato seeds and saw some little plants growing on Friday. There are more today, and they will go under the grow light soon. My surprise made me think about whether, at some level, I didn't really believe that those seeds would become plants.
Many years ago, a Torah discussion at our chavurah centered on faith. Several people said that they were sad because they lacked the faith that, say, true believers like Habad Chasidim have. I thought then that we liberal Jews do have faith, but that we have to learn to draw on it. Many of the things that we do every day are really expressions of faith in other human beings. (Think of this the next time you drive. Or maybe don't think of it, it might be kind of disturbing to realize how much even the most defensive driver depends on the behavior of other drivers.)
Of course, having children is the ultimate act of faith, since it indicates that we believe that the world will be a good place to live in many years from now.
Planting seeds is an act of faith, too. We know the science, of course. But it still seems amazing at some very basic level that those little tomato seeds would actually grow into plants.
I'm sure this isn't original. But it's nice to think that there is some kind of optimistic lesson for us in the fact that we can put seeds in the earth and plants will grow.
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