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4.0 out of 5 stars
Green Acres, copper tacks, and stardust...., Jan 28 2001
Back in the 1960s, Eddie Albert starred in a tv show called "Green Acres" about a city slicker who moved to the country with his classy wife and tried to become a farmer. The show was funny, but I did not know until I read TENDING THE EARTH, MENDING THE SPIRIT by Connie Goldman and Richard Mahler, that Albert was a bona fide garderner--big time. Goldman and Mahler have interviewed dozens of gardeners all over the U.S. (some like Albert, May Sarton, and Lama Surya Das are famous, and others not), and asked a fundamental question, "Why do you garden?" The answers they gathered together in this book are not surprisingly different. Rich and poor, famous and not so famous, most folks find gardening a way to restore the spirit and flex the soul. Gardening leads to the contemplation the meaning of life. Real gardening is not a war with bugs, it's a practice that reflects one's growing awareness of the creator's handiwork. The authors note that some Eastern mystics think the gardener is the last reincarnation. The gardener is acutely aware of the cycle of life, the intricate web of connectedness between and among all living things. The gardener knows human beings are not the center of the universe, and that all living things are precious. It would seem one is nearer God's heart in a garden than anywhere else on earth. And, the earth is the Garden of Eden. It seems we weren't thrown out afterall. It's just that we fell from grace and many of us are unable to recognize the garden is still all around us. Original sin is the egocentric destruction the garden. We were charged to be stewards, but we often behave like naughty children smashing our toys. And, sadly, most humans may not recognize this truth until it's too late--the enemy is us. How do humans change and reconnect with the Garden of Eden? The authors tell of kids and adults turning garbage strewn lots into green spaces in the center of the city (Thank you Bette Midler and The Trust for Public Land). They interview the infirm, physically handicapped, mentally challenged--all of whom have been helped through gardening. They talk to older folks who've moved to apartments or retirement homes, and found restoration in a potted plant in a windowsill, a container garden, or a small plot they tend on the grounds of their new logdings. They tell of prisoners and inmates in mental hospitals grow better after they are provided with access to a garden. And, they interview the average gardener who lives with the ordinary loss, pain, and stress of daily living. More than one over-taxed soul has been restored by reconnecting with nature. As Lama Surya Das, says "Gardening gets us back to the source from whence we came." The garden allows one to act like an innocent child again, to celebrate the sense of awe and wonder. Gardening allows you to find your origins as a human being--to find your real roots. This is a HAZELDON book--wonderful for anyone in recovery.
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