How my garden is growing

There is a hymn that starts out like this: “A grateful heart a garden is, where there is always room for every lovely Godlike grace to come to perfect bloom.” CS Hymnal.

This morning, early, as I went into my backyard vegetable garden, outside of Tallahassee, Florida, I thought about the words of that spiritual song. I had a big, grateful heart. My heart was filled with gratitud for the beauty, and productivity of my garden, which has been blessing us with an abundant crop of pumpkin squash, which does not seem to have an end in sight. Other plants have given us an abundance of good as well, such as basil, peppers, mint, and so much more. My heart is filled with so much gratitude, which I have shared with others in the form of the results of my work in the garden, or rather, the rich soil of the garden allowing the element of abundance to occur.

What added to this grateful heart was the harmony of this autumn day, here in Tallahassee, Florida, with a crisp, coolness, in the air, and the purity of the blue in the sky. It was a day for walking, and admiring the beauty of surroundings. I did just that.

Now, I have prepared part of the garden soil for a new garden, a winter garden. Plants have come forth, and already, we have more results of the work done, and the gratitude expressed. Gratitude breeds more gratitude, and like a fountain, it keeps flowing forth. It is all good. A garden is a symbol of good. I feel that good when I am in my garden. It is a penetrating, inspiring good.

I have found the way. It is the way of the gardener. What a grateful heart the gardener has from season to season. Think of that grateful heart next time someone offers you some produce from a garden, or you walk or drive by someone’s home garden. The earth is filled with goodness, and blessings. I am grateful for the land that I live on here in north Florida, close to Tallahassee.

From one grateful heart to another! The kingdom is already here. We can say, “Thy kingdom come,” and mean it. That kingdom is in our heart of gratitude. I love the unfolding creation and the children of God who occupy it. It is heaven on earth, and I am reminded that the Guarani Indians of Paraguay have always believed that heaven on earth is a realistic possibility. The “land without evil” here on earth was a central element of their religious, moral, thought system.

My land without evil is right here, near Tallahassee, Florida, in a green spot in back of my home.

Will you tell me about your heaven on earth, as I would be very grateful to listen to other ideas.