After a seemingly endless winter, the heat has encouraged the leaves to push their way into being. A dark and lifeless looking landscape is transforming into healthy shades of green and the world itself seems to be coming alive. Gardeners are anticipating the feel of the dirt in their fingers as they wait eagerly for the soil to warm up enough to plant.  Green houses are waiting for a steady stream of customers intent on finding the right plants for their gardening pleasures. In the garden, the clok clok clok of frogs can be heard, the mosquitos have descended in droves, the robin red breasts are marking the return of spring and the ducks have staked out every sizable puddle as home for the next few months.

Winter weary people are feeling new spring in their steps. Eagerly watching for the greening, sensing that a similar greening is occurring in their soul. Hope is born again that whatever has been wearing and  grinding on the spirit is being washed away by the retreat of the snow and that new life is on the verge of appearing.  A realization that even the darkest of seasons come to pass and that healing will come as surely as the spring.

Believe

Believe in that which you cannot see.

Believe in the sun even when it is not shining.

Believe that everything that is happening is happening with purpose.

Believe that if you ask you will receive.

Believe that answers will come if you listen for them.

Believe that you are loved even if you cannot feel it.

Believe that there is more to living than that which is physically present to you.

Believe that life is supporting you.

Believe that the Creator of the Garden has a plan.

Believe that you are an important part of the plan.

Believe that if you open yourself, the next step will become apparent to you.

Believe.

The rain is falling, the wind is blowing, thunder rolls and the lightening slashes the sky. The storm rolls in. Fear strikes the heart, the weak grow faint.  The storm roars.  It buffets and pounds whatever is in its way.  Yet, storms are necessary, vital. Storms restore the equilibrium of the garden. Storms blow away the debris and expose the newness beneath.

Look to nature and the animals in the garden. How do they handle the storm?

Look to the grasses. They bend together in unison, allowing the wind to caress them to the ground. There is nothing more beautiful than grasses bowing to the ground.  Trees also bend in the direction of the wind; those that crash are caught and cradled by the trees around them. The earth receives their gift. Horses turn their rear to the wind. They allow the wind to flow up and over them, standing together in support for each other. Little animals and birds sit safely in the garden-waiting for the storm to pass. Storms always end- there is never a continuous storm.  And often in the aftermath of the storm, a freshness emerges: where once was destruction, new life appears.

When you are engaged in the storm, follow the teachings of nature. Lean into the storm, allow it to swirl about you until is it spent. Let it pass around you; attempts to control or overcome will not work. Tell yourself:  this too shall pass and when it has moved along its trajectory  take time to notice what  has been left behind and what is new and fresh in your life.

 Complaining has become the rule of thumb for conversation today. When we talk to someone, the conversation often turns to what is wrong with the world rather than what is right. It is easy to drum up antagonism against the weather, the economy, the government, one’s job, ones friends, ones family. Everything is fair game for complaining. Spend a day or two just listening in to others conversations- how often do you find that even a minute conversation starts and ends with a complaint. Next tune into yourself and listen to your own conversation for a day or two. How hard is it for you to remain upbeat? It seems that we are called upon to focus on what is negative rather than what is positive, almost as it there was some prize for being the most down. It is a rare phenomenon to hear a cheery up beat conversation and harder still to maintain your own virtue when it comes to going complaint free. A Complaint Free World at http://www.acomplaintfreeworld.org offers bracelets that you can wear for a 21 day challenge to help yourself become complaint free- no criticism, no gossip and no complaints. Some people need to practice silence in order to achieve even short periods of complaint free time. The garden is an excellent place to practice if you would like to try. The Garden listens in silence and carries some lifting and soothing sounds- the sounds of little birds twitter, the sounds of a squirrel chattering, the rush of water over stones. When you spend some time in the garden you store up gratitude and this is the end result of a no complaint world- a world of appreciation opens up to you. Can you imagine the world as the author of Complaint Free World imagined it- quite possibly the way the Garden was created ???

Be still and Listen.

Inside your self there is another self who waits and observes who whispers to you of right and wrong and guides you in the right direction if only you would listen.

The Holy Spirit resides within you. The Spirit is you; thinking, thinking through you, acting with your hands, eyes, ears and feet. You can choose to go more deeply into this self or to doubt and move away. When you choose to ignore this inner self and go your own way, think your destructive thoughts, you edge away from the Spirit and soon are lost in the world of your own making. The world becomes a tremulous place, a place where nothing makes sense, a lost world and you yourself are lost in it. But if you choose to respond and keep listening, the world will reveal itself to you. Everything will make sense and you will become aware of your essential essence in the world, a unique person equipped to participate fully in all that comes to you. The more you respond, the stronger it gets- like the wearing of a thousand feet on a path, it becomes well defined, clear, and  distinct  just as your feet along it become sure and fast, able to traverse it even in the darkest of nights. It becomes comfortable and safe and assuring. You are secure.

Stop in your mad rush to respond to hear what is waiting inside you. Quiet yourself to hear who is talking to you. A conversation is occurring within yourself right now. Can you hear what is being said.

In the silence of the morning,

I sit and ponder you.

Three sentinel grain bins stand in the dewy misty air giving testimony.

I am called to offer mine.

The world has a translucent quality as if I might reach out and touch you.

The sun pours down into my receiving soul and I give thanks.

I give thanks for this body which opens to receive the sights, sounds and sensations of the day.

I give thanks for the work I have to do today, waiting for me and that I am able to do it.

I give thanks for the people, the animals, the plants and all there is that speaks to me of you.

I give thanks that small as I am, you hear me and impress me with your love.

I pray that all your children, big and little,

     ….receive your healing which you have intended for them.

     …know the sweetness of your love

     …experience the breathlessness of your beauty

     …feel your ever biding presence

In the silence of the morning, I sit with you.

When the snow keeps falling, we have the tendency to forget that spring is covered up only for a brief period of time and bemoan the fact that winter is still with us. Yet underneath the white powdery surface, things are already underway to usher in spring. Momentum is gathering for the bursting forth of fresh life. We cannot see it; therefore we do not believe it and become moody- longing for it to be over sooner than later. Moments in time are precious; we can pass years of time waiting for the next season to appear, waiting for something to end so that something else can begin. What about now; what we perceive as the future is on its way but what about now- what is happening within the next two minutes? Have you paused to accept what you have been given at this precise point in time? You are the recipient of everything that you need to continue to live one more minute. Everything has been supplied that you need- breathing in and out -take notice of what you have. Everything you need is right here in this moment. How wonderful. The garden is alive under the snow- waiting to spring into a new creation but the creation that you are right here and now is something pretty spectacular. Don’t pass it by!

Wordless

Can you live for a day without words? Can you simply observe without the need to form thoughts and judgments? Can you sit for a day in the silence? Are you compelled to be busy- talking, watching television, listening to music, reading. Are all your waking hours filled to the maximum?? Are you driven to be busy all the time, occupied all the time, unable to simply be?

Then you are missing out, missing out on the most important reason for living. We are not meant to be under constant pressure to do. We are meant to receive, receive the love that is perpetually, eternally pouring down on us.

We can tap into this love by putting ourselves on pause. In an act of poustinia (stripping away everything that we believe to be important) we can become aware of our live on another level.

It is then that we become aware of love ever present. When we listen to the notes of the bird’s song, we hear a song of love- not a classification of the bird or its notes. When we see a flower, we see the essence of the flower, love,  not its name or its color or its shape. When we look out into the world we see hues of colors blended into a palette of beauty (love) displayed for our wondering enjoyment. When we share our presence with another in quietude and unexpectation we are awed with the love that is freely given to us every minute of every day. When we savor the food we eat, our taste buds explode with love. Our body responds with gratitude- love succors us. When we touch this place of holy love, every song on the radio becomes a message of love, every glance from another a ray of love, everything we experience an act of love.

In wordlessness, love is revealed.

There are a lot of people recommending that we make a list of gratitude. Things that we are grateful for each day. This is guaranteed to make you feel better- recognizing that despite our feelings of things being not okay, in actuality life is good. Some recommend getting a small book and make it an ongoing list that you can look back at and pump up the good feelings when you need to.

5 things to be grateful for

1. Woke up this morning and got out of bed.
2. Despite how we treat our bodies, they still carry our spirit around.
3. There is air to breathe.
4. We live in community with others.
5. The garden is a wonderful place to live.

Whats on your list?

When the sun comes out

On the day that is cloudy, a sense of gloom pervades. The darkness overpowers the mood- making one feel a little down and a little bleak. It may be just the hint of depression, a vagary of feeling that something is not right; a forewarning of something yet to come that may not be pleasant.

Yet when the sun comes out in the garden, the earth is flooded with warmth and light. There is almost an instantaneous surge within of lightness and happiness. All the foliage seems to sing with joy- the light has come again.

Life brings us a continual ebb and flow of light and dark moments, light blending into shades of grey, coloring our moods with uprising of joys and lows of defeat.  We need to identify our own ebbs and flows, recognize when we are being sucked down and under and remember that behind the clouds, the sun is always present. In the world, the sun is always out somewhere, its rays continually bombarding the land delivering healing energy and strength. It is only our position in relation to it that restrains us from witnessing its rays and feeling its warmth.

Even in the darkest of hours, we have the capacity to remember that loss of the sun is only temporary, a short passing of time before we are open to receive its benefits. No darkness lasts forever. We can close our eyes and imagine what it will be like when the sun shines upon us again. When the sun comes out, we are once again bathed in the light with which we cannot live. The son is always with us as long as we live in the garden.