Garden of life
How many of us have considered that our lives and our gardens are very similar.
We start new and untouched, mature and soon start a family.
You find a bare spot and shovel and trowel the soil, and sow seeds.
You work hard to raise a family, be successful, as the family flourishes.
You tend your garden, with care and effort and your seeds flourish.
Our lives are filled with joy and sometimes disaster, we keep going.
Our gardens are fruitful but sometimes destroyed, we plant again.
We learn, sometimes slowly that bad times can be overcome, go on.
We learn our gardening efforts will sometimes fail, we plant again.
We share this life and death pattern with our garden.
This is the season to give thanks for life and i’s promise of re-birth. We can celebrate all we want with joyful parties, shopping and gifts,
Will we take time to acknowledge we are all in this world together, like it or not?
This is the season to give a helping hand and a friendly greeting to the unfortunate who try as they might, will not be having a good life or a garden to tend to.
In this big, messy world, it is impossible to help everyone, however if everyone can help someone, that will make a difference.
We do not have to go out and adopt someone, or hand them a fist full of money.
We can give a big smile and greeting, help someone with a cane who needs a door opened, or just needs a little more space and time to travel in.
I always remind myself that in a couple of years that may be me with my cane, and I will surly appreciate a smile or a little extra space. I already go slower.
Thanks to the many organizations who collect donations. How about that swinging red kettle, I saw people donating their time, this year while sitting in wheelchairs. A couple groups of teens ringing that bell and singing. Yea for them.
If you are a baker, give 6 cookies to a shut-in neighbor, or someone who is under the weather. You do not have to go out and buy a ton of food, or do a whole cake. The idea is to be friendly and generous, however it is not to stuff them with a lot of sugar.
Do you have some extra coupons you will not use? That is a real freebee. In one grocery store, a lady loudly asked the line of shoppers, who wanted some of her coupons. One way to start a conversation.
Remember if you do not go to church you can still say prayers.
Stay happy and if you did not have a chance to help someone out then next week, with the New Year coming up, you will have a lot of days to get in some practice. I am sure this area is not going to be in short supply of needing kindness and friendliness, these two things should not be only a seasonal effort anyway.
Happy times until we meet again.
H.I.Jean Shields is Past President of the Garden Club of Cape Coral.