I hate summer! More accurately, I hate hot weather. Other than making for a pleasant day at the beach, I don’t see the point. I try to avoid being outside for any purpose other than going from one air conditioned place to another. I’m always searching for a spot to park the car in the shade. I have to time my swimming workouts around thunderstorms. (Why do they close indoor pools because of thunder???) I’m resetting the timers on my A/C each day to try to keep the electric bill down while staying comfortable in my house. In short, the hot weather is a lot of work.
In the book of Numbers, there is scene after scene in which the Israelites complain. Usually someone is getting punished for complaining. When the community complains it doesn’t have meat to eat, God sends so much that the people become ill. I suppose that should be a warning against complaining — although it makes me wonder if I complain enough about the heat, maybe God will send a blizzard. (Snow sounds great right about now.) It just seems like a very long way off before I can open the windows at home again.
At Friday evening’s service, we will take some of these lessons and address the challenges of being patient. I find that it’s often not easy. Yet I also find that rarely does being impatient solve anything. So I try to take the frustration and turn it into a healthier challenge.
My best focus for positive action is my garden. While I often find it difficult to understand how anything can thrive in the heat, I have to admit my excitement seeing the first bud in my dahlia garden starting to open.
The garden is an interesting challenge. As the temperature near 100°, turning on the irrigation system is not enough. And I’ve discovered that each of the plants reacts differently to heat. Some plants seem to thrive on the brutal, hot sun. Others show heat stress for which there’s really no solution. My new guinea 
impatiens are not supposed to be in direct, summer sun. I have three pots: the two that get direct sun look amazing, the one that’s shaded looks terrible. Go figure. Some of the plants — like my dahlias — start to look wilted when they are in the direct sun, but perk back up again when they return to the shade. As long as I keep them sufficiently watered, the buds remain healthy and continue to open.
Of course in my desperate attempt to keep everything in the garden happy during the extreme heat, I discover that some of the plants resent the extra attention. I have several planters with gerbera daisies on my deck, which bring such wonderful and varied color. But I keep one planter filled with zinnias because they attract finches. I water them all faithfully. The gerbera daisies are blooming like crazy; the zinnias look awful.
There’s a lot of work, a lot of effort, and a lot of trial-and-error that goes into keeping the garden flourishing when the weather becomes extreme. But I also find that focusing my energy on the welfare of the garden gives me a sense of purpose and leaves a lot less time to complain about the heat. I am reminded of the interpretation of the Creation story that says Adam and Eve had to be ejected from the Garden of Eden because human beings are at their best when facing challenges. As I think about it, I see over and over again in my own life and in the lives of those around me that the best antidote for that sense of being oppressed by adverse and uncontrollable circumstances is action.
I still hate the heat. But I have to admit that it becomes bearable when I’m taking action to manage the circumstances. And sometimes, the results can be rather beautiful.
