Gardeners, Docents, and the Present-Progressive Tense of Living Tradition

Docents see things as in need of protection and enshrinement. Gardeners see things as in need of guidance and growth.

Which is a metaphor for how not to use tradition and a case for how to nurture progress. Romanticizing the past leads to stalling the present. However, we can still use the past to help grow the world that is yet to be.