We had some plants that started growing in the wrong place; I had to move them. We have others that I can only describe as stubborn! Plants like stickers, yeah, thorns in the grass. They just keep coming back! Ants sometimes invade right where I want to work, and aphids seek to eat and destroy the milkweeds that are food for the butterfly caterpillars. Aphids too, are just pest! These things sometimes make me mad! But I am learning to work with them in the garden. In fact, I am learning to accept them for who they are and I am learning to respect their God given qualities.
The squirrels, when they visit, sometimes attack the bird feeders, eating all the food, and they often upend our special places, making a mess. Sometimes, even the soil is contrary! It is to sandy, choked with weeds and invading roots, or it is to dry. The soil can’t make up its mind! Oh yes, sometimes there is trouble in the garden, and I must work hard to find grace and forgiveness!
But I love this place. I rejoice in the harmony when I find it and seek ways to restore it when disharmony rears its head. God restored harmony in my life. A lot of the time I was like the stickers. I think I was just a thorn in his side! I had a lot of weeds growing around me and yes; I can be stubborn.
For me, I love this place because I helped create it. There is a wild beauty emerging, and it’s by design. I talk to God every day and he seems to see beyond my contrary nature, and honestly, he guides my heart, restoring harmony in the wake of self-destruction. A lesson I have learned is that harmony can be restored through forgiveness (and a little patience—well, maybe a lot of patience!)
Most everyone and everything in our garden interacts with me. I love that. I really do. And I interact with them. I gently move and replant our flowers and other plants. They let me know if I have come close to meeting their needs. Droopy or sad, lush, or vibrant—they let me know and I respond out of love.
The squirrels are happier now. I created a bistro, the “Bistro Aviaree”, to honor their playful and hungry nature. Our winged friends’ flitter about and often join them to dine together.
I am chuckling inside as I write this because I am thinking about dirt. Yeah, dirt! It’s usually all over me! But seriously, I love the dirt. I am 64 years old and I still love the smell as I work it through my fingers. I think our garden keeps me young in that way. The dirt, the soil, the decaying matter that gets everywhere, and is sometimes the most contrary and stubborn thing in the garden, I take that dirt and redeem it. My grandson and I work the compost bin and in the process, life and the soil are being redeemed. God does that with us. He can redeem the dirt in our lives, bringing us back into harmony in the garden. Forgiveness is a deeply spiritual undertaking, but the rewards are deep in our soul. Kind of like the dirt. It is the foundation of harmony in the garden.
There will always be troubles and discord. But I, the gardener, choose to forgive all the stubborn and contrary ways. Do you know why? Because, as the gardener, in love with my creation, I choose the path of loving care, direction, and sometimes a little admonishment here and there. But, it is always based in loving care. I celebrate and promote harmony among the inhabitants of our garden, from the soil to each and every flower, each of the creatures (yes, even the ants. And I still am searching for harmony with mosquitos!) But, in all these things, I seek harmony in their wild little ways.
So, as the gardener, I forgive out of love. I forgive because I DO care. I did not create a garden where everything would be mechanical and tightly in place. I didn’t create a garden that was so orderly it was devoid of joy. I choose to forgive the rowdiness of the squirrels, the stubbornness of the plants, and even the contrary nature of the soil! I work through the lens of forgiveness to bring harmony into the garden.
I often wonder if God feels anything like this. Yes, there is trouble, discord, contrariness, and stubbornness in HIS Creation. But God chooses to forgive, even during the storms in our lives. God chooses to love and to continue helping us meet the basic of needs of sustenance, shelter, and he brings us feelings of assurance and hope. Will we, The Garden’s inhabitants, respond to HIS leading?
There is forgiveness in the Garden. We must trust our Gardener. We must resist having stubborn and contrary hearts, and we must resist the discord of our ways. There IS forgiveness in the Garden. OUR Gardener, desires love, harmony and peace.
Gardener out <<smiling, drops the trowel>>. (Some how that was beginning to sound like a speech, LOL)
“Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.” ~~ Psalm 32:1-2
“Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” ~~ Ephesians 4:31-32
