A Prayer for Japan and for Us All

I spent some time at the Dallas Arboretum today. The spring beds are unbelievably gorgeous and this weekend there's an added bonus...Artscape, a fine art fair, is taking place in the pecan grove. 

As I walked through the gardens and admired the artists' works I was so grateful to be surrounded by such beauty and again and again I found myself thinking of the people of Japan.  How many lovely gardens and beautiful works of art were destroyed in last week's earthquake and subsequent tsunami?  As I watched families enjoying the beautiful day together I thought about the thousands of families that are mourning the loss of loved ones or living in fear of a nuclear disaster.  I cannot even begin to wrap my mind around this. 

The only thing I know to do is pray. 

So I pray that each individual in Japan today would see something that brings them hope.

And I pray that each finds strength and help in the days ahead.

And I pray that each of us will take time today to count our blessings, to honor the people in our lives, and to reach out to someone in need.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things.  Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me - put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.  
Philippians 4:8



Secret Gardens

After spending a few days visiting family last week I arrived home yesterday just in time to put together my favorite bouquet of the season. Spring at our place begins with the blooms of narcissus and grape hyacynth bulbs.  Happily, for just a few days their blooming season overlaps that of our azaleas and I gather the blossoms into small bouquets of riotous, glorious color..

Most of the bulbs I grow were harvested from flower beds planted by my grandmother over fifty years ago.  I found them in this old garden, hidden in the woods just a few hundred yards from my back doorstep.  Grandmother lived in a house that used to be nestled in these woods.  The house is gone, but the bulbs and plants she cultivated there have continued to grow and multiply.

Entering this place I feel like Mary in Frances Hodgson Burnett's The Secret Garden, stepping softly as if she were afraid of waking someone.  This is a sacred space for me...a place where I dreamed childhood dreams and shared happy times with people I loved.  It is a place that captured my imagination even when I was very young.  I dreamed of living on this property when I grew up, of carving out my own nitch in the woods and planting gardens of my own.

Sometimes I forget that I am actually living my dream.  Sometimes I think I might like to live someone else's dream.  Really, though, this one is best for me.  Here I have room to breathe and stretch and grow, just like the buds Mary unearthed in Burnett's garden.

So this week I am going to spend time cultivating the garden around my own home and in the process I know I will be renewed.  Warm spring days have arrived and I am eager to feel connected to the earth with the sun on my back and the rich, damp soil in my hands.   My spirit yawns and stretches as it wakes to this new season.

I hope this week you will do some maintenance in your own secret garden...that quiet place, whatever it is for you, where seeds of promise and hope were planted long ago.  Pull a few weeds.  Clear a little space.  Give your dreams room to grow.