How does our garden grow?

Initially, men are made new by the rebirth of baptism. Yet there still is required a daily renewal to repair the shortcomings of our mortal nature, and whatever degree of progress has been made, there is no one who should not be more advanced. - Saint Leo the Great, pope

There is a sense in which it's appropriate to apply the "good enough" test, and another in which we frequently misuse it.  When we have done due diligence in whatever task is at hand, then it is appropriate for us to let that be good enough rather than apply an undue level of effort to achieve perfection either in an area that can never be made perfect or when that attention should really be better applied elsewhere.  On the other hand, we sometimes fail to even ask the question of whether there is growth we should be looking for, just allowing our life to continue by inertia along its current trajectory.

Just yesterday I reflected how we are never fully living as God has called us to. St. Leo says as much here, and it seems to be a hallmark of true spirituality - as reflected in the lives of the saints over the centuries - that the closer we walk with Jesus, the more aware we are of how we yet need to grow.  Sometimes this is because of things we should scale back to a more appropriate level or cut out of our lives completely.  At others it may be that we have failed to recognize Jesus' presence in those around us in some way.  And I can't help but think that we too often lose sight of who we are and are called to be, sometimes due to an over-awareness of our past failings.  Whatever the cause, it is true that a daily examination of conscience may help us to recognize changes we need to make in our daily walk, and equally true that the season of Lent gives us an opportunity to join with the whole Church in striving to grow.

Dear friends, what the Christian should be doing at all times should be done now with greater care and devotion. - ibid.

It isn't that we shouldn't be doing this all the time, but the Lenten season in which we're all more aware of being in this boat together seems to bring a special grace that nurtures our transformation in ways beyond us. Let us recall that any labor of transformation is not ours alone, nor even chiefly ours, but simply a matter of our participation with the Holy Spirit's work in glorifying God through our lives.