The Garden of Eden means Paradise. Folks have looked for the garden and believe it to be located in Mesopotamia but haven't found evidence to that effect. I have come to understand the Garden metaphorically as the Kingdom of God which Jesus said is within. My own physical garden has taught me so much about the Kingdom within which I believe is the true Paradise.
Lesson: The Destruction of my Joy Garden
Spring arrived and I eagerly gathered my gardening equipment and began my labor of love. It took many weeks of hoeing, raking, digging and weeding but finally the garden was in. I took special pride in the raspberry and blueberry bushes I had planted for the first time. They required a fenced area to prevent the deer from eating the small, tender bushes. It was the first fence I had ever installed and as such required a lot of work but finally it was done. I stood back and admired my work.😊 It was a successful garden. We enjoyed summer salads filled with cucumbers, tomatoes and onions. The green beans were prolific and supplied our table abundantly. But the blueberries were my pride and joy. I enjoyed eating blueberry pancakes and blueberry smoothies while still putting several quarts of berries in the freezer.
The summer came and went. For us fall was a busy time of preparation for the snows soon to follow, we were busy gathering and stacking wood for the wood stove. The day came for the truck to deliver a winters load of wood. I saw the truck coming down the lane from the kitchen window and heard the men unloading the wood. Later I went out to begin stacking the wood only to discover to my utter dismay the wood truck had run over my garden, plowed into the fence tearing it in several different directions and destroying the bushes. Some how the truck managed to run over every single bush. I was heart sick. I knelt in the carnage and cried. As I walked away I turned and looked over my shoulder. The sign over the garden was all I could see. It said: Joy Garden. Where had my joy gone?
Time passed. I tried not to think about the garden havoc. Spring rolled around again and I found myself kneeling in the dirt trying to repair the damages. I gave up on the fence and the bushes. They would have to be replaced. I had been working for a while when a sense of peace came over the place. I paused and set my attention on the peace. It was almost like a cool fog that rolls in off the lake, it was tangible, I could feel it. I lingered. And then I knew, I just knew, the lesson had unfolded. The garden still offered me peace and joy. It had nothing to do with circumstances and everything to do with perception. Could I still 'see' my garden in my mind's eye? Could I enjoy digging, hoeing raking, weeding just as it was? Was I grateful for the garden and all the potential it held?
Pearl of Wisdom 1.: What do you want to see? SEE THAT!!! Use your God given imagination to visualize what you want to see and 'see it'. This is faith.
Pearl of Wisdom 2.: Be thankful for what your mind and heart are showing you, the image created by your own imagination. This is faith.
If all we ever see is the physical circumstance, the destroyed garden, our emotions will be rooted in sadness. We live in the past and hope for the moment is lost.
If you experience a turn of events that look like a disaster - intervene with a newly created image in your mind and thankfulness in your heart. Feel the wonder and joy of your creation BEFORE it manifests. See it, Feel it.
Pearl of Wisdom 3: The feeling is the prayer.
Pearl of Wisdom 4: Paradise is within
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