Wednesday, April 24, 2019

Being Open to Sacred Surprises


On Good Friday, Holy Saturday, Easter Sunday, and Easter Monday, we had temperatures in the upper 70s and lower 80s, and I asked Sr. Elaine if she thought it was already too hot to plant lettuce seed. She didn’t think so, and thus I fought the wind to get some seed in the ground on Monday afternoon…and the next day the temperature plummeted.

Gardening is an exercise in trust; as Mandy Hale says, “Sometimes you just need to breathe, trust, let go, and see what happens.” The same could be said of life. We can make careful plans only to be reminded again and again that outcomes are not in our control. Life is much more satisfying when we temper our expectations and open ourselves to sacred surprises.

Buddha said, “In the end, only three things matter: how much you loved, how gently you lived, and how gracefully you let go of things not meant for you.” We receive so many gifts in this life, but not everything is meant for us…including, some years, home-grown lettuce!

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