My Struggles with Gardening
I had great hopes for my garden this year. I had great hopes last year too. But last year, I ended up harvesting 2 green peppers and 9 cherry tomatoes. That’s it. I gave my garden a C-. I was generous. This year’s garden is on a trajectory to merit the same grade. Probably lower. As I write this, my pepper plant (with one marble-sized pepper on it) is in ICU. My lone zinnia is in hospice. (I should explain that my garden consists of several large potted plants out on my second floor porch.) I ask myself, what’s wrong with my attempts to create a Garden of Eden with veggies ripening, pretty flowers in full bloom, and with me sitting on my lawn chair surrounded by lush green foliage and splashes of color everywhere?
They say, the man who can’t dance, blames the floor. That’s me. I blame all kinds of things for why I’m virtually a failure at gardening. But there is one thing I CAN’T blame. I start with good plants. In early spring, my nephew, John, always calls me and asks, “Aunt Dolly, what kind of plants would you like this year?” I eagerly say, “What kind do you have?” And he lists all kinds of things he has started from seeds–with tender devotion: bell peppers, jalapenio peppers, rosemary, sweet basil, beefsteak tomatoes, orange jazz tomatoes, cabbage, geraniums, zinnias. I place my order and within a few days he delivers my plants–plus others for some of the Sisters living here.
So what do I blame for my mediocre gardens? I blame the sun. My porch faces northwest. I don’t get any sun until about 2:30 in the afternoon–and by then that old hot sun BAKES all my plants. (I just thought of something else I can blame: climate change!) Within minutes my plants begin to droop–so I have to lug them inside, pot by pot, just to keep them alive. My friends, Sisters Sandy and Eileen live on the other side of the building where they get the morning sun. Both have lush gardens. One of Sandy’s tomato plants (from my nephew) already has one tomato bigger than a tennis ball. Which only proves my point.
Next, I blame the wind. My porch gets the full brunt of any winds from the west or north. When those winds kicked up recently, I glanced out on my porch and sure, enough, there’s my tallest tomato plant lying on its side and whimpering, “Help me up! Somebody please help me up!” I’ve now learned to bring him inside at the first sign of strong winds. At this writing, my tomato plant has four yellow flowers on it. So “Hope springs eternal…”
I blame the soil. I buy decent potting soil–but not the most expensive kind. I tend to be frugal. (My friends say I’m cheap.) There’s something about buying dirt that really irks me. It’s like buying water and air. Shouldn’t all human beings have free access to a certain amount of dirt, water, and air? But I must confess, when I’ve run out of good, new soil–because I’m frugal–I use dirt from the previous year. Probably not a good idea.
I also blame my mediocre gardens on my lack of time. After all, I’m a very busy lady giving talks and retreats, writing articles and books, going out for ice-cream with friends, playing solitaire on my ipad, and praying every day. I thought I’d stick that last one in. After all, if I didn’t pray every day, I’d have much more time to spend on my garden. And yes, my struggles with my garden have reminded me to pray for farmers every day! But the fact remains, I’m sure I would grow a beautiful garden, if I had more time. But I don’t, so I can’t.
And finally, I blame my lack of patience. It’s funny. I have patience for lots of other things–like writing, for example. But for some reason, I am not patient with gardening. My Dad and Mom were both gardeners par excellence–so were my siblings. My brother Paul just dished out $200 for a couple of those big cages for his few tomato plants to prevent the neighborhood deer from eating his crop! (His wife says at this rate they’ll be paying $10 for each tomato they harvest!) I wonder: did I NOT receive the “gardening gene”? If so, then I have one more thing I can blame: genetcs!
But despite my struggles with gardening, I know that when John calls me next spring and asks, “Aunt Dolly, what kind of plants would you like this year?” I’ll say, “What kind do you have?” And I’ll place my order. Eagerly. And with lots of hope.
For reflection:
What has been your experience with gardening?
If you like to garden, what do you like about it?
Are there any other qualities you think good gardeners must have?
Our video is a children’s song called “The Garden Song,” was written by David Mallett. Here it is sung by David Grover and the Big Bear Band. Feel free to sing along–especially with the chorus!
I encourage you to repond to this reflection below. We’d all enjoy hearing from you!
The Truth about Sojourner Truth
(I’m writing this reflection to commemorate June 19th [sometimes called Juneteenth, Jubilee Day, or Emancipation Day], the federal holiday that commemorates the ending of slavery in the United States)
Recently I read an article in the Smithsonian magazine (March 2024) by Cynthia Greenlee entitled “The Gospel of Truth.” It attempts to tell the true story of Sojourner Truth based on the latest historical research. First, a few facts. Isabella Bauntree was born into slavery not on a southern plantation, but in the Hudson Valley of New York–which was called New Amsterdam back then. She was born in the late 1700’s to Elizabeth and James Bauntree. Her first language was not English, but Dutch. She never learned to read and write, yet she possessed an amazing gift for public speaking.
In her dictated autobiography, she tells of how she gained her freedom: one day she just walked away carrying her infant daughter, Sophia, and a few worldly goods. Befriended by Quaker abolitionists, she filed a lawsuit to reclaim her son Peter who had been illegally sold into slavery in Alabama. Amazingly, she won the lawsuit and was reunited with her boy. She describes his shocking condition: “From the crown of his head to the sole of his foot, the callosities and indurations of his entire body were frightful to behold.” A religious woman, Isabella frequently talked to God while walking in the woods. One day in 1843 while praying, she felt God calling her to travel (sojourn) around the country to preach the truth of God’s word. Thus, she took the name Sojourner Truth.
Contemporary accounts describe Truth as a “tall (6 ft.) masculine-looking figure” with “a deep gutteral, powerful voice.” An avid abolitionist, she proposed land grants for recently freed southern slaves and was a “foremother” of the movement for slavery reparations. But she was also a prominent leader in the civil rights and women’s suffrage movements. In addition, she met President Abraham Lincoln and “hobnobbed” with Harriet Beecher Stowe.
A century before Rosa Parks sat down on an Alabama bus, Truth was “chasing streetcars in Washington, D.C. where Blacks were denied the right to ride.” One day when a streetcar passed her by, Truth gave three tremendous yelps: “I want to ride! I want to ride! I want to ride!” She jumped onto the streetcar, much to the shock of the conductor. When he went to eject her, she told him she was “from the Empire State and knew the laws as well as he.” She was also keenly interested in “old age justice,” and fought for the rights of the elderly, including her own parents.
Truth displayed considerable media savvy. She sold photographs of herself at talks and conventions to help support herself and her children. On the pictures she wrote: “I sell the Shadow to support the Substance.” She controlled her own story by publishing her autobiography, Narrative of Sojourner Truth, a Northern Slave. On May 29, 1851, Truth addressed the attendees of the Ohio Women’s Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio. This past May, a beautiful new memorial was dedicated in her honor in Akron on the site where she gave her mememorable speech. Visit it on line or (better yet) in person!
Cory McLiechey of Grand Rapids, MI, is the fifth generation grandson of Sojourner Truth, a direct discendant through Truth’s daughter, Sophia. He is “now fundraising for a hologram version of his ancestor.” One day he hopes to interview this hologram of Truth in front of elementary school students. It seems “a fitting way” to honor Truth, “a mover and shaker who understood the power of images, and the importance of telling her own story.”
For reflection:
Is there anything that stands out for you in Sojourner Truth’s story?
If you could summarize her in just a few words, what words would you choose?
What progress have we made in the justice issues Truth fought for? What justice issues are we still struggling with?
Our video is “We Shall Overcome,” one of the anthems for the Civil Rights Movement around the world. Here it is sung by a group called “SOS from the Kids.”
I invite you to add your thoughts to this reflection below. Thank you!
What Does Sin Do to Us?
What does the devil look like? One traditional image of Satan is this: He is a man in a red suit, with horns and a tail, wielding a pitchfork. He is smiling–or perhaps sneering is the more accurate word–because he takes delight in tempting human beings to sin–and eventually to go to hell. Satan is the ruler of Hell, commanding hordes of devils beneath him. He’s extremely active and immensely powerful.
This image is a sharp contrast to Dante’s depiction of Satan in his Inferno. (I’m drawing from an article by Tod Worner entitled “Midnight Oil,” in the journal of the “The Word on Fire Institute,” Evangelization & Culture, Spring 2022). Dante visits Hell with his guide and idol, Virgil the great Roman poet. As they descend deeper and deeper into the bowels of hell, they come upon Satan himself at the very bottom. But Satan is not surrounded by legends of devils amid flaming fires. No, he is alone and encased waist deep in ice! His enormous wings, though flapping, only stir up the cold. His chin is resting in his hands–as if he’s pouting. (Satan, the Pouter-in-Chief!) He definitely is not smiling or even sneering. As Tod Worner says, “The King of the Inferno is sullen and supremely self-absorbed.” He’s even oblivious to the presence of Dante and Virgil.
Worner tells Bishop Robert Barron how surprised he was that Dante’s Satan is “not loud and audacious, darkly majestic and menacing, but is instead pathetic and cold, sad and self-absorbed.” Bishop Barron explains, “Dante’s Satan is the full expression of what sin does to us…It causes us to cave in upon oneself.” In fact, one of St. Augustine’s definitions of sin is just that: incurvatus in se, to be curved in on oneself.
Like Dante, C. S. Lewis also visits hell in his book The Great Divorce. The book is not about a marital divorce, but about the distance between Heaven and Hell. Lewis dubs Hell (or some say it’s Purgatory too) as “grey town,” a place where it is always raining–even indoors. But there’s a bus in the town that offers to take residents to a better place. Lewis boards the bus with others and soon they are soaring higher and higher through the clouds and into the air until they reach the foothills of Heaven itself. But, in order to enter Heaven, the passengers have to turn away from their “cherished evils” such as their need to dominate others, their cynicism, their craving for wealth, their pride, their lust. In other words, they must “repent” of their sin. Some passengers finally do repent and enter Heaven to be joined with loved ones already there. But others, unable to repent, board the bus again and return to “grey town”–for now.
Even though I read The Great Divorce 40 years ago, one image stands out for me. In grey town, people live separately in their houses. Soon they end up quarreling with their neighbors and move farther away from the center of town and from any neighbors. Some individuals are so far away, so isolated, they are light years away from their nearest neighbor. Take Napoleon. Two residents manage to visit Napoleon on the outer edges of the town and they describe what they saw.
Napoleon lives alone in a huge mansion in the Empire style with many large windows. When the two visitors peek through one of the windows, what do they see? Napoleon is “walking up and down–up and down all the time–left-right, left-right–never stopping.” And the whole time he is blaming others for his misery–beginning with his top generals. He mutters to himself, “It was Soult’s fault. It was Ney’s fault. It was Josephine’s fault. It was the fault of the Russians. It was the fault of the English.” He is a man exhausted and taking no responsibility whatsoever for his life, his mistakes, his sin. He is a man seemingly incapable of repentance.
For both Dante and Lewis, Hell is a place of isolation from others, supreme sadness, and constant gloom. What a contrast to Jesus’ image of Heaven as a happy, loving, fun-filled wedding feast!
For reflection:
What did you think (or feel) about these two depictions of Satan, hell, or sin?
Did anything in particular stand out for you?
Our song today is a communion hymn by Dan Schutte, “Table of Plenty.” It is sung by the Sunday 7 pm Choir (from SFDS Parish in Ajax, Ontario, Canada.) Every celebration of Mass is a foretaste of the Heavenly Banquet God has prepared for us when our earthly journey has been completed. This video has two versions of the hymn. The second version adds the descant. Otherwise both versions are the same song, same lyrics, and the same visuals.
You are welcome to share a comment below:
A Bouquet of Flowers for You
It’s officially summer (in the northern hemisphere, that is.) Let’s celebrate by reflecting on flowers! We’ll begin with a few facts. Did you know there are over 400,000 different kinds of flowers? I believe that when our Creator God first came up with the idea of flowers, she just couldn’t stop making them! I hear her saying, “I love this red rose, but I wonder how a pink one would look?… Today I think I’ll make a yellow tulip. I bet a red one would look pretty too… I always had a fondness for blue, so today I think I’ll make some blue flowers–blue bells, hyacynths, forget-me-nots. What about something in white–or orange or brown or purple?… And who says a flower has to be one color? I’m going to make some flowers striped or dotted or with colors all swirled together!” And on and on Our Creator went! As a result, flowers come in thousands of shapes, sizes, and color combinations. To demonstrate this marvelous truth, feast your eyes on these four flowers… and see if you can name them:
Aren’t they lovely? They are (from top to bottom) dahlia, tulips, columbine, and bleeding hearts.
What is the definition of a flower? A flower is the main reproductive structure of a plant. Since this isn’t a biology lesson, I’ll leave it at that. But here are some fun facts about flowers:
+ What are the 10 most beautiful flowers in the world? It depends on whose list you’re reading. Here’s one list: 1) rose 2) hydrangea 3) bleeding hearts 4) cherry blossoms 5) orchid 6) tulip 7) peony 8) lily 9) freesia 10) lotus. On that list, the sunflower was #17. Maybe you can make your own list of the ten most beautiful flowers! You can share your list below if you’d like… (hint! hint!)
+ What flower has been around the longest? The archaefructus sinensis which has been around for 125 million years! It resembles a lily.
+ Going back to the ancient Greeks, humans have assigned meanings to flowers–both positive and negative: daisy or red rose (I love you truly), hyacynth (your loveliness charms me), red carnation (my heart aches for you), edelweiss (courage), geranium (stupidity–I wonder why?), begonia (beware), chamomile (patience), goldenrod (encouragement), cyclamen (goodbye), striped carnation (refusal), yellow pansy (I’m thinking of you).
+ In Holland in the 1600’s, tulip bulbs were more valuable than gold.
+ Roses are genetically related to apples, raspberries, cheeries, peaches, and almonds. (What a nice family they are!)
+ Some flowers are edible for humans: nasturtiums, violas, and day lilies, for example. And everyone knows dandelions make a tasty wine.
+ Some flowers are poisonous to cats and dogs. Among these are daffodils, hyacinths, amaryllis, and oleander.
+ Tulip blulbs can be substituted for onions in a recipe.
+ Some flowers can actually hear bees buzzing. (I wonder how they discovered this. Maybe they gathered different flowering plants together in a lab, brought in a bee, and said to the flowers, “If you can hear the bee buzzing, raise your leaf!”)
+ Some flowers are thermogenic (they generate heat) to attract pollinators.
+ The tallest sunflower ever recorded was 30 feet 1 inch tall. It was grown by Hans-Peter Schiffer of Germany and verified in 2014. What’s even more amazing, Herr Schiffer had already broken the record three times before!!!
+ Many flowers are an essential food source for pollinators such as bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. And many flowers rely on those same pollinators for their survival. (If only we human beings appreciated our reliance on one another for survival… and our reliance on the rest of the earth community for our survival!)
+ And lastly, some flowers are known to emit a faint humming noise inaudible to the human ear. So, while you’re talking to your flowers, they might be humming back to you! How crazy is that?
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PS: This past Saturday we celebrated the closing Mass for Notre Dame College in South Euclid, OH. It was founded in 1922 by the Sisters of Notre Dame, my congregation. Originally established for women, it went co-ed in more recent years. The closing was a sad occasion for many–especially those of us who graduated from NDC or who served there in any capacity during those 102 years. At the same time, we give thanks for all the men and women who studied there and for the faculty and staff who ministered to them with such devotion throughout Notre Dame’s long history.
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Our short video (3:24 mins) is timelapse photography of all kinds of flowers blooming. It’s put out by National Geographic. For me, the dark background and the gentle music only enhance the beauty of these images:
I hope some of you will respond below to this refection. The flowers and I are eager to hear from you!
A Reflection for Memorial Day
(Please note: Today’s reflection deals with a very disurbing topic: war. Some of you may find this reflection very difficult to read. I understand. I found it very difficult to write.)
Memorial Day will be celebrated next Monday in the U.S. This is the day set aside to remember and honor all those who died while serving in the Armed Forces. It is different from Veterans’ Day, celebrated on November 11, which honors all who have served in the U. S. Military.
How do we honor those who gave their lives in our wars? By praying for them, by holding memorial services all over the country and beyond, and by decorating their graves with flowers, wreaths, or small American flags. But the most important way we can honor these men and women is by working for peace and justice–beginning in ourselves, our homes, workplaces, churches, local communities, country, and world. With that in mind, I am offering this short reflection for today.
“A Reflection on War and Peace”
Is there a celestial pub in heaven where all who died in battle gather from time to time to share their stories? If so, do they begin by telling the name of the war they fought in and the year they fell?
First Messian War, 737 B.C…. Peloponnesian War, 428 B.C…. Zhao-Xiongnu War, 265 B.C… Second Punic War, 212 B.C…. Fourth Crusade, 1203… Hundred Years War, 1352… War of the Roses,1481… Inca-Spanish War, 1532… Powhatan War, 1622… War of the Grand Alliance, 1690… War of the Spanish Succession, 1710… French and Indian War, 1762… Napoleonic Wars, 1804… Nanjing War, 1831… American Civil War, 1863… Paraguayan War, 1865… Anglo-Zulu War, 1879… First Sino-Japanese War, 1894… World War I, 1916… World War II, 1942… Korea, 1952… Vietnam, 1971… Iraq, 2004… Afghanistan, 2015… South Sudan, 2017… Ukraine, 2023… Israel-Gaza, 2024…
Do they share how they died and how old they were?
By hatchet, 21… nerve gas, 24… spear,18… starvation, 30… canon ball, 25… dysentery, 19… shot down in our B22, 43… strafed by friendly fire, 23… bayonet, 16… sniper bullet to the neck, 19… incoming missile, 33… club, 15… grenade in our fox hole, 21… poison arrow, 20… firing squad, 25… suicide, 24… malaria, 27… went down with the Bismarck, 22… sword, 20… pneumonic plague, 25… roadside bomb, 30… drowning, 26… fire, 24… parachute didn’t open, 20… bunker bombed, 32… drug overdose, 22… drone attack, 27… suffocation in a U-boat, 17… PSTD, 28.
Do they share where they died?
Wounded Knee…a rice paddy in Nam… Ulundi, South Africa… a frozen field outside Moscow… a MASH unit in Korea… Hiroshima… Dhauli Hills, India… somewhere in the Pacific… Jerusalem… Dresden… Crimea… Gettysburg… a roadside in Kabul… Pearl Harbor… Maya Lowlands… Wau, New Guinea… Normandy Beach… Mesopotamia… Concord, Massachusetts… Marne River, France… Waterloo… Taiping, Malaysia… somewhere in the Alps… Anzio, Italy… a POW prison in Vladivostok, Russia.*
And finally, what do these fallen warriors do before they disperse?
They raise their glasses of heavenly brew in honor of each other… they embrace their one-time enemies… they forgive again and again… they smile, they tease each other, they laugh… Then, locking their arms together, they join in one earnest and heart-felt prayer for the end of all wars on earth… and conclude their prayer by singing together in their own languages (which are now understood by all): “Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me.”
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(All photos from Pexels: by Sharefaith, RDNE Stock project, and SA Bond)
I’m offering two videos for Memorial Day. The first is taps played two times in Arlington Cemetery…once in summer, once in winter:
The second video is “Let There Be Peace on Earth” sung by the Voices of Hope Children’s Choir. May the words of this song be our prayer this Memorial Day and every day…
PS #1: The soldier who died in a POW prison in Vladivostok, Russia is my great uncle, the younger brother of my Grandma Svoboda. As a young man he was living in Bohemia (now the Czech Republic) when he was drafted into the Austro-Hungarian Empire’s army. He fought on the Siberian front, was taken prisoner, and shipped 7,000 miles from his home in Bohemia to this remote prison where he died of some disease. His family didn’t learn of his fate until several years after his death.
PS #2: There will be no new post next Monday, May 27th Memorial Day. I’m taking the day off. My next post will be Monday June 3rd. Have a blessed Memorial Day!
PS #3: A big thank you for your prayers for Sunday afternoon’s zoom retreat sponsered by the Portiuncula Center for Prayer in Frankfort, IL. About 40 participants joined us in eight states and Ireland and the U.K. Special thanks to Sr. Janice, Megan, and Mary Lou for their help. I had a wonderful time with some beautiful people!
I invite you to comment on Memorial Day, the reflection itself, the videos, or add your own thoughts below. I welcome your input.
