Saturday, August 15, 2009

Dear God,

What happens when a beautiful garden is left untended? Weeds take over covering the path, choking the good plants, destroying the once magnificent design. Disorder and chaos dominate the scene. There is nothing beautiful left.

So much like relationships left unattended. Confusion, bickering, disappointment, conflict, blame and judgment take on a life of their own. Hope fizzles. Joy is disrupted. Love begins to fade. Sorrow, resentment and bitterness take root and finally what once was beautiful is left a tangled, mangled mess.

What similarity there is between the two. When I look upon my contemplative garden, all I can see from the window are weeds that have taken over the garden. So many trees have taken root, now requiring a shovel to dig them out. The majestic white hostas are hidden by a mounting number of really tall thistles. What once was a prayer stone path is now a thick weed bed, the stones invisible beneath dead brown and green debris.

I wanted to give in to anger and resentment. I felt like sitting down in the midst of the chaos and crying. Perhaps I should have, allowing myself to release the sadness I felt. But I pulled a weed and then a second one. It was what I could do. Because of the heat I could only stay out for five minutes and then return to the cool kitchen. I started the process of reclaiming the beauty by pulling out the undesirables. Steadily, I am building a pile of unwanted debris on the patio.

Does my relationship with you look anything like my garden? Are there undesirables growing in our relationship? Are there things hidden from view? Have I let some things go allowing sin or temptation to disrupt the once beautiful design?

Simple things
like gardens
remind me
to take
a new look
at the garden
of my soul.
Are there
as many things
askew in
my soul
as in
my garden?
Let all
of nature
speak its message,
I pray.

Love, Andrea