The Garden Core

As the earth spins around its core with its drawing and life giving power, so do we spin around our core.  The problem is that we have spun so far away from the core that we are living our lives out on the edge of the circumference where the spin is influenced by other forces which draw and which promise life.  The real core is not what many regard as the core of life.  We think of our core as something like a ladder which leads to success, or a relationship guaranteed to make us happy, or maybe arriving at some spiritual place in our life which will enable us to know peace despite circumstances.  The suggestion that our core is best described as a garden is likely to cause some to think that such an idea comes from one deficient in logic and common sense.   

The truth is that the Garden described in the first story of Genesis is the prototype for the core around which our life is to spin.  An additional truth is that the closer we stay to the core, the less likely we are to see our lives spin out of control.  This is all true because the Garden of Genesis speaks of where we belong.  It speaks of a unique and intimate relationship with the Creator of the Garden as well as each one of us.  The Garden speaks of presence, not just any presence, but His presence, a holy presence.  The Garden story does not necessarily call us all to become farmers and vineyard keepers, but to live in sync with the purpose for our being.  When we spin too far out on the edge, we are likely to lose sight of our real core and go off looking for substitutions which only take us further out there into a land not meant for us to live.  The Garden Core is where we live mindful of the imprint of the holy in our own life as well as in the lives of every other one who is out there around us.  

When we spin close to the core, we treat ourselves with more grace, we live in a kinder world where respect and forgiveness are the norm, and we know the contentment that comes from belonging.  The Garden is where God is.  Where God is is where we are created to be.  It is a core that draws us and has life giving powers.  The closer we spin around this core, the straighter our walk will be and  the truer we will be to ourselves.