Return to the Garden

I’ve been carrying a heavy burden for quite awhile. I can only identify it as an anxious fear of the future. Instinctively, I know I shouldn’t indulge this feeling. Yet, it is there, a vaporous entity that wraps itself around me digging its invisible claws into my spirit. I won’t go into detail about the things that I fear—let’s just say they are circumstances that we all fear at one time or another. But for me, this fear has mounted to a point that it is becoming debilitating. I’ve got to do something about it.

Today is Thanksgiving Day in my neck of the woods and while I am preparing my portion of the meal that I will share later today with other family members, I am taking some time to do some personal reflection.

What keeps coming to mind is the ancient saying that there is no fear in love. I had to say it again and again to myself: there is no fear in love. I sat back for a moment and took a mental inventory of the love that is in my life. There are some people in my life I know love me. I try very hard to love myself. But this love is transitory. People move on. Sometimes I don’t love myself.

But then it struck me that there is a love that is does not move on, that is unfailing. This is the love that the Universe pours out on me. That love is constant. It never wavers. It never depends on my feelings. It is outside me, beyond me, holding me up, permeating my being.

The trick is, however, letting this idea of a constant love permeate me as a fact, NOT as something I feel. I am not always going to feel that love, but if I have it grounded into my mind as a cognitive fact, then I can rely on that love. Many people place their reality squarely on the back of their feelings. This is perilous. Feelings change, feelings waver. Knowledge does not. If I base my reality securely on the knowledge that the divine power of the universe will not let me down, then the paralyzing grip of fear is released and I am free.

So on this Thanksgiving Day, I claim that love as a fact of life.  And for that knowledge, I am profoundly grateful.

May you also know this Love today and always.

Lori G. © 2007

Many, many years ago, more than I am willing to say, there was a weed-choked, trash-strewn plot of land on the northwest corner of my high school campus. Horticulture classes were held there and attended by the handful of students who figured studying horticulture was the easiest way to fulfill their science requirements. The word on campus was that illicit plants were being cultivated under the noses of the school’s administration. I highly doubt that was true but the garden was in such a sorry state that perhaps some thought such a story would bolster the reputation of this sad little plot of ground.

However, I am delighted to say today The Learning Garden at Venice High School in Venice, California has earned the new reputation of being one of the finest school gardens in the country.

Renovations to the garden began in 2001 when some parents and other volunteers took on the tremendous task of reclaiming the land and transforming the debris-filled area into a lush garden complete with a fountain, koi pond, organic vegetable and fruit patches and several smaller gardens of medicinal herbs and native California plant life.

Student enrollment expanded from a mere handful to about 150 youths, most of whom are grossly uninformed about the processes of nature when they start the program. For many, their science learning leaves the sterile confines of the classroom and finds fruition in the practical experience of the garden.

Not only do the students learn the discipline of taking care of the plants, soil, and equipment, but they also learn respect for the environment, respect for the animal and bird life that dwell in the garden, and, most importantly, respect for themselves.  Many of these student gardeners are learning about healthy eating for the first time. Working in the garden has transformed their attitudes towards food, and they are learning how to make healthy food choices.

In addition to organic food production, the students are also exposed to alternative forms of healing through working in the medicinal gardens. The Chinese herb garden, in particular, also provides a hands-on learning experience for the adult students of a local university of Traditional Chinese Medicine. The Learning Garden provides them with the only place in the area where they can see such herbs in their natural state. Tai Chi and Yoga classes are also offered in the garden for these college students.

Finally, the garden serves as a focal point for community-building. Volunteers from the neighborhood gather to help maintain the garden and to advocate with city planners to transform other under-utilized spaces in the city for community gardens. It is the hope of many students, teachers, and community volunteers that The Learning Garden at Venice High School will inspire other communities around the world to create their own learning gardens.

I highly recommend a visit to the Learning Garden website and taking their Virtual Garden Tour. You too will be amazed and inspired. I guarantee it!

Lori G. © 2007

The following was originally published for the Lemurian Abbey blog in October, 2006.

In the back of my choir loft are some tall windows letting in the warm southern sun. I have packages of seeds of varieties that are unknown to me. The instructions are unusual too– no directives for the usual amounts of water, sun and soil– but strange commands for ample water drawn from the nutrient-laden well of my soul, loam properly stirred and warmed by the duende spirit, the light of inspiration from above, and the Divine breath for the proper circulation of air. Daily attendance to the seedlings would be an absolute necessity for no growth can be insured if the pots are neglected. Not having a particularly green thumb, I will be careful to follow the directions to the letter.

I also assembled my gardening tools: observation, insight, composition and metaphor, and a very sharp pair of shears to prune away superfluous words and ramblings.

I prepared the pots and finished by inserting the seed packet labels into each pot so I could identify the growth I know will eventually come forth– stories laden with sumptuous descriptions, characters of depth and insight, lively dialogue, and messages of profound meaning.

If I take care and nurture these seedlings, then the results, I know, will be bounteous.

Image and text: Lori G (c) 2006