Wednesday, June 30, 2010

My dear God,

Do you like taking something broken, ruined, forgotten or neglected and turning it into an object of beauty?

Today I worked on a patch of ground by the side of the house. I imagine that small area has not been tended to for decades. The land is spotty, without much grass, and weedy. It is just plain ugly. So, I pulled the weeds from the sandy soil, roughed it up a bit with a rake, spread top soil, poured out patch lawn repair and watered it. At the same time my husband sanded the steps leading up to the porch. I had already planted Lily of the Valley and diminutive purple flowers beside the house and made a 5 inch row of small marble stones for the roof run off. At the end of the day we both stood back and admired our work. It already looks better.

Do you go to all that trouble with us? Do you see the areas neglected in our own lives? Do you know all the broken places, the ruined parts, and all those spots within our bodies, minds and souls that we have turned away from, pretending they don't exist? I am confident that nothing is hidden from you. Throughout our lifetime I am positive that much work needs to be done on all of us.

As I worked on the yard, I was aware of your presence. I know that I can labor long and hard but I cannot make the grass and flowers grow. I cannot will those teeny seeds to sprout up. I have a job to do but the end result is not entirely my own. Without you, nothing will happen. I will have labored in vain. But with you I know that beauty will come.

Thank you
for the privilege
of tending
to your garden.
Every blade
of grass,
every grain
of sand,
every flower petal
comes from you.
You are
the source
of power
that wills
each thing
to grow,
to blossom,
to become beautiful.
I am simply
your handmaid
and I
like that.

Love, Andrea