If the husbandman wishes to have a rich harvest, he must work early and late, weed and aerate, water and spray, for cultivation is beset by many dangers that threaten the harvest. He must work without ceasing, be constantly on the watch, constantly alert, constantly prepared; but, even so, the harvest ultimately depends wholly on the elements, that is, on God.
The garden that we have undertaken to tend and watch over is the field of our own heart; the harvest is eternal life.

Tito Colliander
"Way of the Ascetics"