This Time of Year- Spring Blooms

Something about this time of year, about Spring, inspires in me a deep gratitude to Allah SWT, a deep acknowledgement of how little we have to do to see the fruit of all the mercies He sends down to us. 
When I look at my wooden barrel today, I can only say, subhanaAllah.  One month ago, it was a brown container, with brown dirt, and a few dried, burnt looking, bare twigs.  Today, it's a container that is literally overflowing with long, green, luscious sage, oregano and thyme.  Did I do anything to bear that fruit?  No.  Not recently at least.  The last time I touched that container was three years ago, when I put the dirt in, and added small seedlings of sage, oregano and thyme plant.  I leave my herb garden outside, where it dies once the frost sets in, and miraculously bursts forth every spring since that first planting.  I haven't added any new fertilizers (other than a few coffee grounds here and there), I haven't weeded, cleaned or changed the soil.  But somewhere, deep under that brown dirt, are the seeds that bear fruit each year.

And so it is with this life.  It truly is the garden for our Hereafter, as taught by our Prophet saaws.  And the amazing thing is, we don't really have to put much effort into this life either, compared to the great na'eem that we will get in return in the Hereafter.  Allah SWT only wants us to invest in whatever little way we can do, just to take that first step forward, so He can come running to us with His rewards and blessings.  His blessings rain upon us long after we have moved away from Him and become engrossed with this dunya.