I was recently taking a contemplative walk in my neighborhood offering it as morning prayer. It was a restorative action on my part to counter all the “doing” and “input” of my life. No music, no podcast, no phone call. Just me and the Spirit walking to the tune of the sun rising and the birds singing.
As I turned a corner, I looked up and saw a tree with a mess of vines attached to its trunk. I was captivated by it and took a photo. I think it captured my attention because it reminded me so much of my messy self. What a gift to read the signs of our times and see the need for God. As I cling to Christ and my holy relationships, I move down the path of my life. I see the beauty in the mess and throw off light to others.
We can get overwhelmed with the messiness of our lives if we aren’t living in right order. We must constantly search for the life giving movements that bring us closer to God. These are the skills we must cultivate to tend to the garden of souls in our lives.
How many souls might reach a high degree of sanctity if properly directed from the first. I know God can sanctify souls without help, but just as He gives the gardener the skill to tend rare and delicate plants while fertilizing them Himself, so He wishes to use others in His cultivation of souls. What would happen if the gardener were so clumsy that he could not graft his trees properly, or knew so little about them that he wanted to make a peach tree bear roses?” —St. Therese of Lisieux
Smitten With Goodness 