Copyright 2012, John Manimas Medeiros

Since childhood I remember my desire to make a garden and my pleasure in having one. Having wondered what the basic impulse is that drives so many people to do the hard work that is required to create and maintain a garden at home, I have come to the conclusion that we want our home to include a holy place. There are four ways to be in a sacred space: climb a mountain; go to a holy place that is not a mountain; meditate; create a garden. When we meditate, we go to the holy place within ourselves. When we create a garden, we are making the holy place where we are around us. The garden connects one with one's God because it connects one with the miracle of the life process from disintegration in the soil, from seed to birth to growth to maturity and then death again. We discover the interconnectedness of soil, water, invisible plant and animal life, and us, and the processes of Nature that sustain life on Earth and connect us with the universe. There will always be the mundane claims such as "I just want a few fresh tomatoes" or "I love fresh peas … fresh home-grown corn." These appetites for real, home-grown fresh vegetables are valid, of course, but beneath the hunger for food is the hunger for a holy place. When one enters a garden in the morning, a garden created with loving care, the garden gives love back. The love one receives from a garden is love from the Great Spirit, love from the Holy Ghost, love from the life that enters into you and then goes back out into the world and takes you with it, into your garden, and then back to the world. As your garden loves the world, it carries your love of life with it.