Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Spirituality of Gardening... Nice.

“Although we all possess the seeds of great love and compassion, without the light of the enlightened one's wisdom and the waters of their compassion these seeds would never spout.”

- Philip Kapleau


Tending a garden is like tending one’s soul; it is about enjoying the rhythms of creation, rhythms of preparation, planting, growth, harvest and compost. Planting a garden connects us to a divine presence who sustains his beloved. It is in our connection with the creator that we find meaning in life. What does it mean to prepare our life? What does it mean to plant good seed in our life? What does it mean to be tendered and grow into the fullness of being human? Where do we see the harvest in our lives? And what do we leave behind as autumn approaches and this life finds rest?


These questions only find meaning when our body, mind and spirit - our whole being - is connected to the One who knew us from a seed in the ground to the beautiful life we have become in God’s garden. It is then that we discover our purpose, our holy, pleasing and complete purpose.


“I planted the seed, Apollos watered the plants, but God made you grow. It's not the one who plants or the one who waters who is at the centre of this process but God, who makes things grow…”

St. Paul