In the Garden

For the past 5 or so years I have been helping with the gardens at Our Lady of the Snows.  I have always loved gardening, planting things and watching them grow, pruning back that which needs pruned, watering, fertilizing, tending.  It is not too much to say that when I began to help with the garden at Our Lady of the Snows, I finally started to feel like I belonged here in Clarks Summit.  I felt a part of something.  I could let go of all the expectations I had of being gainfully employed with my theology degree, and just begin to BE here.

There is something about gardening that is infinitely satisfying.  In and of itself, gardening has given me peace and relieved stress for most of my adult life.  The results of gardening are tangible.  You plant something and it grows, it is very simple and straightforward and there are results that you can see and identify.  Plus, there is getting your hands dirty, getting dirt under your fingernails, the smell of the earth as you turn it over and water everything.  If you are successful, beauty abounds, produce ripens and can be harvested.  You can eat the fruit of your labors or you can cut flowers and arrange them in vases for the house.   Alternatively, after you have worked hard, you can rest in an Adirondack chair and look at all the work you have done.  All of those things you can do on your own.

Helping at Our Lady of the Snows brought those benefits and more.  I belonged to a group, my opinions mattered, I made some real friends.  It saved my life at a time when I was having panic attacks about the death of my sister, when I was in despair about fitting in here having tried another church, and other volunteer opportunities in which I didn't fit in so well.  Since I began working with my gardening group, much that was broken in me has been healed because I was lost and then I was found.  I was included and loved, and I got to use a pick axe to dig holes and plant bushes.