Featured Articles about Responsibility, the Future and Consciousness:

Hope for the Future
Series on Leadership
Series on Global Consciousness
World Peace in Less Than a Month?
Can Idealism Solve Problems?
Conflict, Harmony and Integrity
Human Programming and Conflict
Non-violent Political Change
Living Without an Enemy
Protecting Children: Words and Deeds

This Month's Article

The Winter Garden

The winter garden is about hope. It is not sleeping, rather storing energy on the microscopic level for a great awakening. In our high desert we gather the leaves and leftovers of summer bounty into a fluffy blanket and cover the soil. If we have put in garlic, onions and winter greens, or bulbs for early garden color, we tuck them in snuggly under the mulch. Hardy arugula, parsley, cilantro, chard, and bok choy brave the frigid wind and all seems festive with an occasional light dusting of snow.

When the innocent children and their courageous teachers were gunned down at Sandy Hook Elementary School last week, it cast a cold and sobering shadow on people’s holiday spirit. As a teacher, I remember tragic days facing a classroom of children, and dealing with fear and grief. On one occasion when a classmate died unexpectedly, I took my students outside on a walk and we sowed wildflowers in his memory in vacant spaces along city streets.

Gardens are places to cultivate hope and heal wounded emotions. Just being outside opens the spirit and extends it into a better space. This fall children planted bulbs with us at a community Peace Garden. I reflect about the inherent optimism of such an act. Faith and expectation for a beautiful future garden is implicit in planting. I think that when we grieve, we should go outdoors and nurture life in a garden.

Many people express doubts and skepticism for the future of the planet and of human civilization. We are at a winter time of human existence complicated by the results of many seasons of careless acts and delinquent stewardship. If people would become good gardeners and nurture each other and create the healthful conditions for flourishing abundance, we may have a chance to experience the spring of human culture.

Those who strive to do this experience a life of happiness, optimism, fellowship and fulfillment. We expect good results from such efforts, but realistically, if our efforts are too small to be successful in the face of such huge accumulated obstacles, at least we will have met wonderful people on a shared journey, worked together in joy, and inspired hope while affirming the eternal values of nature.

 

© 2012 Richard V. Sidy

January 11, 2013 — A day of global action on behalf of Mother Earth and all her children. Led by the indigenous peoples and their movement: "IDLE NO MORE!"

Some Related Articles and Poems on SNS Press: A Living Canvas The Art of Living The Good New Days Parallel Universes Beyond Ideology: Politics of the Future Meeting the Need Awakening Hush and Listen A Matter of Scale Nameless Beauty