Gardens are special places — spiritual places — because they engage our senses, evoke our sense of wonder, bathe us in beauty, and connect us to a wider nonhuman world. A garden can be a place of play and of transformation. It is a setting where we can celebrate both The Mystery and our own larger being.
After 20 years of compiling anthologies, June Cotner has gathered a top-drawer list of contributors who send poems, prayers, and prose for each of her books. She singles out a poem by Dorothy Frances Gurney for its celebration of the spiritual dimension of gardening:
"The kiss of the sun for pardon,
The song of the birds for mirth,
One is nearer God's heart in a garden
Than anywhere else on earth."
In thematic sections on The Garden, The Gardener, Gardening, The Seasons, Planting & Harvesting, Flowers, Fruits & Vegetables, All Creatures, and Inspiration, there is a rich mix of devotional, practical, uplifting, and thoughtful readings on what Cotner calls "Garden Blessings." By giving yourself over to these poems, prose and prayers you will be immensely enriched and edified.
Here are a few of our favorites from this wonderful collection:
• A Quotation
"A garden always gives back more than it receives."
— Mara Beamish
• A Proverb
"More grows in the garden than the gardener sows."
— Spanish Proverb
• A Reflection
"Knowing trees, I understand the meaning of patience.
Knowing grass, I can appreciate persistence."
— Hal Borland
• A Little Prayer
Send, O God . . .
A little sun,
A little shower,
A tiny seed,
A garden flower."
— Theresa Mary Grass
• A Garden Blessing
"Thanks be to God
for diverse seasons,
the flowers and trees,
the seeds and the weeds.
the stillness and breeze,
the showers and the sun,
nature old and young,
all that's cold or hot;
Thanks be to God."
— Shirley Vogler Meister
