More gardening...

I love gardening - I'm not very good at it or even disciplined - but I love it.  Di says I love the "idea" of gardening more than the actual work (and she has a point.) Still, it does my body and soul good to get my hands in the dirt and play with the beauty of nature.  The daffodils are bright - a few tulips, too - so yesterday we spent 3 hours making a first pass at our front yard.  I spent another three hours today and will do likewise tomorrow. (And then there is the back and side to consider over the next few weeks.)

Spring - almost summer - weather has arrived in the Berkshires nearly a month early.  Is this truly part of the climate change we fear or just another fluke that falls into some 50 year cycle? I don't know, but the ground needed tending and it was sweet to get back into that groove. Made me think of Mary Oliver's poem:  With Thanks to the Field Sparrow Whose Voice Is So Delicate and Humble.

I do not live happily or comfortably
with the cleverness of our times.
That talk is all about computers,
the news is all about bombs and blood.
This morning, in the fresh field,
I came upon a hidden nest.
It held four warm, speckled eggs.
I touched them
Then went away softly,
having felt something more wonderful
than all the electricity in New York City. 

As I prepare to return to the rhythm of my commitments in our faith community after a week apart for retreat and renewal,  my time in the earth speaks to me of connections. Norman Wirzba writes about these connections in his excellent book Food and Faith.

Food is about the relationships that join us to the earth, fellow creatures, loved ones and guests and ultimately God. How we eat testifies to whether we value the creates we live with and depend upon. To eat is to savor and struggle with the mystery of creatureliness. When our eating is mindful, we celebrate the goodness of fields, gardens, forests and watershed and the skill of those who can nurture seed and animal life into delicious food. We acknowledge and honor God as the giver of every good and perfect gift.  And we also learn to correct our own arrogance, boredom and ingratitude...

That has certainly been true for me over the past five years in the Berkshires.  Being connected - to the garden and this town, to my loved ones and community of faith, to my new friends in music throughout the region and the world, to the flowers and our polluted but beautiful river - has certainly brought a measure of grace to my natural arrogance and ingratitude (and I trust there is more to come.)  Taking time for quiet and rest - and getting back into the dirt - helps.  Like Jaco Hamman wrote in our Play-Fullness book:  "... grant yourself the freedom to accept that for the majority of life's difficulties, simple solutions are possible... for we seek a quality of life that permeates all of our relationships."

As this day comes to a close, that rings true for me - and now it is time to wash off some of the dirt of this sweet day.  Tomorrow's gospel from John whispers throughout it all:

Jesus breathed on them - giving them new life - saying: Peace be with you.  As the Father has sent me, so I send you... Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; but if you retain the sins of any they are retained.