Hello, hello. Its been a while since I blogged. The richness of the experience in Africa all to quickly succumbed to what I recently called the "pace and swill" of the western world. However, I have made a commitment to myself to share some of the insights I have gleaned from these trips to Sierra Leone and the ones on my Christian journey. And I have one to share now.
The garden is starting to burst from the ground now, in mid April. The tulips and daffodils have had their day and are beginning to fade (but still making a show). We scavenge discounted bulbs from Lowes a few times and have had great success with them. We rarely buy anything from the retail stores (Lowes, WalMart, etc) unless it is on clearance. But as nice as the bulbs look now, if you walk through the garden right now, what you will notice most is weeds! Yes weeds have already taken over. Weeds like the one pictured above called "Henbit." And when I say taken over, I mean they are everywhere!Am I worried you ask? Well, no, I am not. And why? because the weeds that are ruling the roost right now are called "ephemeral weeds." Ephemeral weeds are weeds that grow quickly, bloom quickly, seed quickly, and, thankfully, die quickly. They are almost going to seed when they germinate from the previous year's seed that has lain dormant all year. The reason I am not so worried, is that they are essentially gone by the time the real Spring and Summer flowers decide it is their turn. Now, I can say that i am a bit regretful that I am unable to "harvest" the fodder for my compost pile (oh for a couple more hours in each day). Yes, I do wish I could rid the garden of those weeds before they go to seed (an almost impossible feat due to the short life cycle) so that the cycle could be short circuited and maybe the next year they are only a minor nuisance. One of those scoundrel weeds has seed pods that shatter on the slightest touch and scatter seed in a wide area around making it nearly impossible to be rid of. Grrrr. When they die back, however, they leave little behind in the way of nutrients for the garden so it is as if the garden never knew they were there. They are mostly water and organic matter. Little substance for the greater scheme of the garden.
The garden is a collection of individual plant and ornaments, and creatures. Each exists to fulfill its own mission of birth, life, reproduction, and death. But when taken as a whole, the GARDEN is something more. It is itself a living, breathing thing. It has a heart, which in our garden is daylilies. It has bones, the trees, shrubs, and woody structural elements. It has a skin of good soil and mulch. It has a circulatory system in the paths that wind through it. And best of all it has little gems which are like the little things you notice about your spouse for the first time after so many years.
The subtle variation in their eye color, the shape of a collar bone, the character of their face when they interact with a child. These little gems, the Heucheras, the Geum, the verbena, or trilliums, they are what make the garden a unique individual. In the life and existence of a garden, each separate component contributes to the whole to make it live. The ephemeral are counter to this scheme. They spring forth, live hard and quick and die. They live and leave little behind to show that they were there.People can be ephemeral too, and never even know it. So many people live day to day disconnected from the "garden" that is the world around them; their neighborhood, their community, their town. So many people live and die thinking that self fulfillment is the purpose for which we were created. They never realize that the real purpose is to be part of the garden. A low, mounding verbena without a back drop of a tall monarda is just a mound of verbena. It shines its light upon itself But together, they shine brighter, they lend light to one another, and enhance, and make a difference to the whole garden. Likewise, a life lived for the community, for a neighbor, for mankind is a life that allows the garden to shine brighter; it lends it light to the garden rather than using it to light itself. It enhances and makes a difference. It is difficult for humans to live their lives in perpetual service to their neighbor (and I use this term neighbor the way that Jesus used it in the story of the Good Samaritan) but I am sure that the more we live in it, the more our hunger for self fulfillment is satisfied. In contributing to the whole we are fulfilled.
