About a month ago, we were privileged to listen to a talk by Robert Massoud, founder of Zatoun (please check out their website), a grassroots company dedicated to helping the people of Palestine. This blog springs out of that conversation. A funny thing happened at work this week. I brought in some roses to have on my desk, 'cause some days in gloomy, rainy Vancouver, you just have to do something to perk yourself up. A couple of people actually asked me if they were from my garden. Now, we do like to consider ourselves the California of the North, but trust me, we do not have roses blooming in our gardens this time of year! In fact, our local mountains have been enjoying nothing but snow for the past couple of weeks. Naturally I said no, they are not from my garden. Then I had a thought. In this deeply contemplative time of Passiontide, what if I considered this question more closely? The question then becomes, what am I growing or intend to grow, in my garden? What am I cultivating, hoping to burst forth in bloom at some future point? Will I even be here to see it? What is lurking in my garden that has no business being there? What kind of food and nurturing will it need? Is it something that will need some kind of protection? What will grow well in our particular climate? These are all food for thought. I don't have a place anymore for a real garden, but I think I know just the spot in our church garden for a nice rosebush. And maybe given the microclimate that our manse enjoys, we could try growing a real, live olive tree, just like in Palestine! Sparky
That was beautiful Sparky! I thought the line about "what is lurking in my garden that has no business being there" was humourous in a way. You have been posting a lot of really great content.
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