ardening is an active participation in the deepest mysteries of the universe.

Thomas Berry

verything that slows us down and forces patience, everything that sets us back into the slow circles of nature, is a help. Gardening is an instrument of grace.

May Sarton

f not ignored, nature will cultivate in the gardener a sense of well-being and peace. The gardener may find deeper meaning in life by paying attention to the parables of the garden. Nature teaches quiet lessons to the gardener who chooses to live within the paradigm of the garden. 

Norman H. Hansen, The Worth of Gardening

Gardening
part four

here is a theology to gardening that few of us consider, but to understand this theology means relinquishing much control - our arsenal of books, techniques, tools, chemicals, fertilizers, fancy hybrids, and expectations. Yet, that is exactly what we must do if we are to fully embrace a more spiritual form of gardening. As a part of Nature we must learn to enter our garden as if it were truly sacred, we must learn to enter with humility. 

Christopher and Tricia McDowell, The Sanctuary Garden, 1998, p. 17 Cortesia Sanctuary and Center

he more contemplative gardener, seeing the garden as a whole, the design of it, and its nature as a still place of delight and refreshment, will wait and hope for the moment when it seems to achieve perfection. Awareness of when such moments are most likely helps to make them happen; they will not be entirely accidental but anticipated; everything will be planned to encourage them.

Susan Hill and Rory Stuart, Reflections from a Garden, 1995

   think this is what hooks one to gardening: it is the closest one can come to being present at creation.

Phyllis Theroux

Garden Sanctuaries for a Techno-World
Philosophy Notepad > Gardens 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7
Philosophy Notepad > Gardening 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5
Philosophy Notepad > Beauty & Harmony 1 | 2 | 3
Spiritual Gardens