Mrs. Peasant's Diary for Ash Wednesday 2026: Worldliness, Overthinking, And What Happened To Conversation Hearts?

Child reading. Jessie Willcox Smith 1905

And seek not you what you shall eat, or 

what you shall drink: and be not lifted up on high.

For all these things do the nations of the world seek. 

But your Father knoweth that you have need of these things.

But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his justice, 

and all these things shall be added unto you.

                   LUKE 12:29

All the information, all the choices, all the opinions, all the ideas and tips leave me feeling sad. Can there be a point where tons of information becomes a terrible thing? I think I am information-ed out. My father sold encyclopedias, and he loved to answer my questions with "Well, look it up." I find even answering a simple question today on the internet to be difficult. Having to sort through hundreds of answers is tiring. Most of the time, after I research a topic I am even more confused. Try looking up how to grow a tomato. You will find a Masters Degree worth of reading material on how to grow a tomato. I just give up. I sort through hundreds of reviews to buy something on Amazon. I scroll through endless options. I see the whole world's issues. There is just too much of everything.  All of the news and information and ideas becomes super distracting along with all of the hours of time I waste on worldly things. I'll spend more time finding a pair of socks online than reading my Bible. I used to grab some at Walmart, and they'd last 8 years. It is getting harder and harder to not get sucked into the world and the things that are fading away. I am getting older. Why should I care about this or that? 

Carlo Maratta (1625-1713) (follower of) - The Madonna Reading

I am glad it is Lent. We can cling close to the Lord and focus on him. It is a chance to be less attached to this world and permission to ignore all of the noise. The world has always been a wreck, but we can actually hear all about it today. We hear every story and every update for every tragedy in every state, in every country, and the whole world. When I hear about a tragedy, I pray. When you love someone and you really want the best for them, all that matters are the eternal things. I can barely care about people I know as they deserve. How can we care about billions of people? My heart is just too small. 

Sweet Hearts Candy, Scott Ehardt 2005

I am still wondering what the hell happened to the little boxes of Conversation Hearts? I couldn't find them this year. I tried googling the answer, and it went nowhere. Now, we need AI to decipher the answers from the sea of information slop. I have a hard time decluttering books because they quickly answer my questions even after all these years. 

May the Lord be in my mind, on my lips, and in my heart. Thank you for stopping by. God bless you this Lent. 

Christ in the Wilderness - Ivan Kramskoy 1872

Mr. Peasant On Garden Speed

Emile Claus - The Old Gardener 1885

Everything that slows us down and forces patience, 

everything that sets us back into the slow circles of nature, is a help. 

Gardening is an instrument of grace.

MAY SARTON

I don't move fast anymore. I am a traumatic brain injury survivor which has diminished my energy to levels seen only in centenarians. I have tested my work limit, and it is 1 hour and 40 minutes. I don't go to that level because it will cost me a couple of days trying to recover. I have learned to keep it at one hour per day. This allows me to do another hour the next day. I have learned from the brain injury websites and forums to always remain under your threshold. The brain grows and recovers from repetition like practicing scales on the piano not like lifting weights at the gym.

For some reason, we have an internal taskmaster driving us to be more productive. I have had this taskmaster my whole life, and I would obsess on getting things done. Speed and quantity are what mattered most. I don't see anything wrong with this because productivity is the seed bed for prosperity. The problems come when you are no longer as productive as you were in your prime. Everyone slows down. Slowing down is not the same as stopping.

Hermann Kern, Old Man Shelling Peas 1880

Garden speed is the speed old people have as they putter in their plots. The work is never finished, but things get done at a leisurely pace. There is no clock to punch. The nature of gardening forces this leisurely pace of labor. If you are someone used to city and corporate life, this downshifting of the gears is a difficult adjustment.

What happens when you apply city speed to the garden? You rapidly become exhausted and end up accomplishing very little. This is true if you are able bodied and not suffering from old age and injury. Ultimately, gardening is a cooperative effort between God, you, and Mother Nature. Your part of the partnership is to put together the conditions for garden success. The rest is waiting to see what comes out of the ground.

The biggest fruit that the garden produces is patience. A lot of time passes between the sowing of the seed and the harvest. It isn't a factory turning out X number of widgets each hour. Garden speed forces you to calm down and live with the seasons. Do a little bit each day, and you end up with something good.

Thank you for reading.

An older man with two children and a dog, sitting in a garden. 1890 Canada