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Recommended
Sites
(Click these links)
Susan Fahncke's 2TheHeart
Teri McPherson's WiseHearts Site
Betty King's
"Moments of Reflection"
www.bettyking.net
Ellie Braun Haley's Angels On Earth
Teri Wilber's Hearts With Soul. Promoting acts of
kindness. "We are dedicated to responsibilities as loving human beings."
Roger H.
Gilbert's
"Window to My Soul"
Barbara Weymouth's PenWorm Prayer Warriors site
Diane Dean
White's
"Carolina in the Morning"
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Greetings, Ripplemakers
I'm trying out a new style for
this newsletter. Let me know how you like it, and please be
candid. If you like it and if I can manage it properly, I may
switch to this new format.
Bob
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In the Garden -
Grandfather's Tale
from The Garden Tales"
by
Rhonda Carter
People I know and hold dear and the stories are quite
real. The garden is life, the gardener is the Creator - by
whatever name you know Him or her, the angel is the silver
web that connects us all, and the focus of each tale is
actually a very real person. In the first tale I introduced
the plant, a dear friend who I count as not only a very dear
friend but in so many ways a guide and mentor. In this, the
second tale, I introduce someone I came to find to be a
friend I could turn to for an
ear to listen, to help me figure things out, to just be
there, and someone I have lost but will never forget.
The garden was again flourishing, again a lovely tranquil place.
The angel walked through smiling. One day, she thought to
herself, she would learn to trust that the gardener knew what he was
doing - yet for some reason she still seemed to feel the need to
question every reason, every choice the gardener made. In her heart she
could see - she would always question, and the gardener would always be
right. As she wandered drinking in the perfection of the garden her
mind wandered back to the large tree that had once stood here, to when
it had been moved.
The angel had entered the garden - looking for the gardener - a look of
deep concern on her face. She glanced about the garden as she sought
him. Yes, the others had cried out truthfully. The tree had been the
central focus of the garden - three generations had since sprung up
under its steady strength and protection. Tall and steady, its deep
roots had held the very earth together, and it's wide spreading branches
and offered shelter and shade to the seedlings that had sprung from its
line. And even more depended upon the tree, the smaller creatures that
sheltered in the welcoming branches, the larger creatures that took
shelter in its shade, and the many other plants growing near or in its
shade.
Now the tree was gone, where it had stood a cavernous hole in the
very earth. And so many plants and others disturbed - displaced.
Finally she found the gardener - he looked weary, a deep sadness seemed
to wrap around him. "How could you?" the angel demanded. "The tree was
strong and vibrant - now that part of the garden is devastated." He
smiled at the angel. "Yes, it is a magnificent tree, and I could have
trimmed out the few branches that were weaker or broken. But it was time
- I eventually move all my plantings to the grand garden, and the place
for the tree was ready." The gardener looked off wearily into the
distance. "I know there is much now I need to tend, damage in the garden
that I need to fix. It will take time and patience - but the garden will
again flourish."
"I recall when I planted that tree - just a sapling, yet already tall
and steady and full of promise." The gardener smiled a distant smile as
his mind wandered back remembering the tall thin sapling. "I have seen
much of the tree in the saplings that continue its line. They will one
day allow the garden to continue to expand."
"And what of the others? Those that are now displaced? The smaller
creatures that lived in the spreading branches no longer have a home and
the larger creatures that sheltered in its shade are without." Silver
tears were now flowing freely down the angel's delicate face as she
thought of the creatures that had for so long looked to the tree for
shelter. And too, the tree had stood as a guide for many - so tall and
steady, it was for many a reference point in the garden. "What of the
other plantings that depended on the shade of the tree to protect them
from the sun?" She thought of that part of the garden and how devastated
it had seemed when she had passed it looking for the gardener.
Slowly the gardener turned to face the angel. And only then did she see
that he was crying also. "I will tend to them all. The smaller creatures
will spread from the tree to the next generation in its line just as
they spread to the tree when I removed the tree from before it. The
other plantings will find shade and shelter from the newer trees. And
the larger creatures will find that the younger trees also offer
shelter." He looked into the angel's eyes and she knew all would be
alright.
"Would you like to see where I have moved the tree to? I have a few
moments, we can see how things are going." He smiled gently. When she
nodded he gently took her hand and led her to a different garden. As her
eyes opened wide in amazement his heart lightened. "This is why I moved
the tree", he explained. All the angel could do was nod in stunned
amazement.
The gardener had led her into a valley, more lovely than any she had
ever seen. All manner of plants seemed to flourish here. At the far end
of the valley was a magnificent waterfall providing water to the entire
valley. And wrapped across the sky was the most beautiful, perfect
rainbow. As she drank it all in the gardener smiled. "The rainbow is
always there", he explained. "Here my garden is perfect."
The angel finally spotted the tree - and was amazed, it had only just
been moved yet it was ever more magnificent than it had ever been. As
she looked closer she realized all of the weak and broken branches were
again vibrant and whole. Again the gardener smiled at her. Silver tears
again flowed down her delicate cheeks - only these were tears of joy.
"Come", he said quietly, "there is much to be repaired in the garden."
?© 2005 Rhonda Carter
http://www.geocities.com/rcghatten/TheGarden2.html |
