I sit this morning in a later-than-usual quiet contemplation and prayer. Inspired by Unity’s Daily Word, “I freely choose where to place my energy today.” I am moving toward allowing my days to ebb and flow more naturally, filled with a healthy and balanced selection of activities, while still supporting my Beloved Community. This, for me, is one of the lessons and the gifts of finding Sanctuary at Home. I pray that you are doing the same, allowing whatever is needed for the soothing of your soul to find its way into your Grace-filled day.

I often sprinkle my meditation and prayer time with readings from whatever calls to me from my chairside table. And often, I am presented with an eclectic selection, seeking to be woven into a message…something I need to hear and remember, and that I can pass along in case it helps you to hear it, too.

As you may have gathered, my attention has been shared between Ministry and Gardening this Spring. And I capitalize Gardening, because it is equally sacred, a true Communion with God. As happens when we begin to direct our attention to any object, topic, activity, or situation, it appears everywhere. This morning I am first blessed with this quote from Thomas Moore’s The Re-enchantment of Everyday Life. He says, “We may have to learn again the mystery of the garden: how its external characteristics model the heart itself, and how the soul is a garden enclosed, our own perpetual paradise where we can be refreshed and restored.” What are the external characteristics of the heart? It has four chambers: two of them serve to send out life nourishing fluid, the others take it back in. And so, there is an eternal cycling of giving and receiving, both required for the continuation of life. One might also look at the heartbeat as a continuous cycle of work and rest, both necessary for human life to continue. Finally, the heart, as an organ, is absolutely essential.

So, how might we see the heart as a metaphor for a garden? When we spend time in a garden, we see abundant evidence of the cycles of nature. Plants are constantly taking in nourishment and light and giving back color, beauty, food, and life-giving oxygen. With the cycles of daylight and darkness, as well as the seasons of the year, plants have natural cycles of work and rest. And as providers of both oxygen and nourishment, plants are essential to human life.

While finding words to express such a comparison may pique our interest and engage our minds, it takes only a moment of time spent in a well-loved garden to feel the life-giving energy of Nature. Breathing in the essence and soaking up the explosion of vivid color is nourishing to our bodies, minds, and souls. We relax in a garden, we breathe easier, taking on the natural rhythms of Life. I believe that this is why many of us spend time creating gardens as integral aspects of our homes. We are stressed and overstimulated by the pace of modern life and we look to the garden as a way to bring peace, balance, and sanity back into our experience. We are nourished by the feeling of the soil in our hands, reminded of who we are and where we come from. Without realizing it, we are realigning with the cycles of Nature and we are refreshed. A similar experience can be found walking in the forest or near the ocean. The scent of the trees and the dirt fill some primal need. The feeling of wet sand on our feet grounds us. There is a Presence that feeds our souls. We feel connected with something much bigger and more expansive than our day-to-day lives…we feel our Oneness with All That Is.

In a passage from the Kabbalah this morning, I am advised that, “One should produce luminosity within the word that emerges from one’s mouth.” That, in and of itself, is worthy of further contemplation and writing…and may work its way into another day’s message. For now, I hope that my sharing of words has brought a luminosity to your day…that you are refreshed and moved to spend time in the Beauty and Splendor of Nature. You may even feel inspired to create, or continue in the creating, of your own Sanctuary Garden. Whatever your day brings, may God be with you…and may you feel Its Presence.

May we all be well…stay in touch…know our unity…and thrive!

And may we know the Absolute Beauty and Wonder of this Grace-filled, once-in-a lifetime day…