It’s been my experience that most of us spend a great deal of time, energy, and resources looking for ways to be or to get happy.
What must be realized is that happiness, first and foremost, is an inside job. The joys and miracles visited on the outside can never be fully appreciated until we are at peace with ourselves right where we are. This requires some gardening. The grief, pain, rejection, and sadnesses of the past are buried deep. They require attention to detail, hand cultivation, and tilling. Otherwise, each will keep coming back as a weed among the wheat with power to multiply like horsetail or thistle causing resentment or bitterness. Once eradicated, our seedbed is ready for planting and new life.
When I worked as the clinical director at a residential treatment center in Brevard, North Carolina, we designed our logo symbol as an acorn containing a mature oak tree inside. Our message was that each and every one of us contains all the necessary ingredients for a full life. Once planted in rich soil, only germination is required.
Martin Luther, who started the Protestant Reformation, was a Catholic Monk with just such a gardening mission. He wrote; "Even if I knew the world would end tomorrow, I would plant an apple tree today.” This is the promise not only of new growth, but of fulfillment, love, and happiness.
“The wind, one brilliant day,
called to my soul with an odor of jasmine.
”In return for the odor of my jasmine,
I’d like all the odor of your roses.”
”I have no roses;
all the flowers in my garden are dead.”
”Well then, I’ll take the withered petals
and the yellow leaves and the waters of the fountain.”
the wind left. And I wept. And I said to myself:
”What have you done
with the garden that was entrusted to you?”
by Antonio Machado
Translated by Robert Bly”
There are plenty of external struggles and bright shiny objects that divert us from the work that must be done. We live in times where the next best things, bigger, better, and more prestigious are promoted as keys to contentment. Power, control and greed fight to choke out the seeds we plant. They tell us that only by working harder and longer can happiness be obtained. In reality, their harvest is mostly despair and emptiness.
Interior gardening surrenders to a power greater than ego. It finds a way to YES. Suddenly we will realize that the world and all of life is a miracle growing out of God's love. We will be able to contribute, live and breathe without wanting anything in return. The jobs we perform, family, friends, and community we celebrate will all truly bear the fruits of God’s Spirit. We won't always get to witness the outcome or bounty of our gardening and planting, but harvests will continue for generations.