Aligning with Grace

As I watered my plants and waited for a dear soul friend to come visit me this morning, I thought of the many different ways in which we garden... Sometimes we garden in our yards... Sometimes we tend the garden of other people's hearts... This friend I awaited, has done this for me many times throughout the last few years... But sometimes we are gardeners to our own souls...We tug and pull out the weeds of what no longer serves us, and create room for our dreams to take root and for our souls to grow... Over cups of tea, my friend and I shared experiences from our meditation and yoga practices, which we do from time to time. I described an ability to plug into bliss very deeply in my sitting practice, but conversely mourned all I had lost in my yoga practice, lamenting that in many ways, I felt like a raw beginner. She wisely noted, that it did not matter - for it shed light on what was ultimately important - the essence of the practice - and the poses that were now elusive disclo...

Easter morning was magnificent, as I crossed the Potomac River, on my way to teach a friend's yoga classes, hours before I would meet my family for Easter Sunday Mass. The sky was a beautiful blue, but a slight carpet of foggy mist hovered over verdant fields, though it was thicker where it hung over the river. Halfway into my trip, something told me to flip on the radio, and I caught the Krista Tippett interview with Vigen Guroian , an Armenian priest and college professor, who writes about the joys of gardening in his book, The Fragrance of God . He says that it reveals the grandeur of God to him, more than anything else, for nowhere is the union of God with the whole cosmos made more evident than in a garden. In fact, Guroian affirms, that for him, gardening is nearer to godliness than theology. And having been a theologian for more than half of my life, that gave me pause for thought! During my drive, I was captivated by the many different variety of trees in bloom - especial...