It was serendipitous that on the “clean up” day for the Mercy by the Sea grounds, there coincided a retreat for individuals who had lost children. At first, the two gatherings seemed to be totally unrelated, until later that day. Volunteers had decided to concentrate on the new pollinator garden next to Seascape. Removing invasive garlic mustard and oriental bittersweet, the ground was prepared for pollinator-friendly plants.
Unbeknownst to the volunteers on bended knees, in the adjacent building a group of parents gathered to bend towards their own deeply rooted sorrow. Both groups dealt in their own way with a world scarred by unnatural tragedies. Despite their sorrow, one gathered to heal the land and the other to heal their hearts. Without ever exchanging a word or committing to a plan, the one group carefully prepared the soil and the other group lovingly cradled the box of butterflies they planned to release. The serendipity of these actions sprouted from sorrow yet blossomed in hope. These two seemingly unrelated groups shared a belief in a miraculous metamorphosis. Holding their sorrows and releasing their hopes.
“You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have loosed my sackcloth and girded me with gladness.” - Psalm 30:11
As you follow your own path of transformation, consider it time well spent to sit in the gazebo next to the new pollinator garden, perhaps pondering which of your sorrows might be released and transformed into joy. Digging deep into the recesses of your soul, and on bended knee, lifting your sorrow to the sky where it will take flight, dancing in the light, transformed it into a gift of beauty. Become part of these serendipitous moments that take place at Mercy by the Sea where land and sea and sky meet and heaven and earth converge.
If you would like to contribute plants from your own gardens as you divide your perennials this spring, we are looking for the following; Wild Geranium, Spiderwort, Swamp Milkweed, New England Aster, Purple Giant Hyssop, False Indigo, Coreopsis, Purple Coneflower, Joe Pye Weed, Heliopsis, Cardinal Flower, Lobelia, Bee Balm, Beardtongue, Black Eyed Susan and Verbena.
Plants can be dropped off in front of the greenhouse on Tuesday mornings. Your contribution will be included in the Mercy by the Sea pollinator garden along with milkweed, the exclusive nutrient source for Monarch caterpillars.
The Sisters of Mercy are committed to revere the Earth and to work toward sustainability. Join the collective Mercy effort which, in addition to other organizations, networked along the migratory path of the Monarch. Pollinator gardens are being planted at other Mercy sites including Carlow University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; University of St. Joseph in West Hartford, Connecticut; and Mercy Farm in Benson, Vermont. The hope is to have 16 universities, convents and spirituality centers plant and maintain pollinator gardens along the Monarch migratory route. Be part of the serendipity!
On a recent trip to Israel, I was struck by the efficient use of land for agriculture. Whether it was a swath of productive soil in the desert, a small fertile valley in the highlands or a sidewalk garden in the old city of Jerusalem, the land was productive. In Learning Our Place: The Agrarian Perspective of the Bible, Ellen F. Davis writes, “The need to serve and preserve the soil in its fertility was well known to the ancient Israelites, and if one looks at the land of Israel through a farmer’s eyes, it is easy to see why that garden ethos is established already in the second chapter of the Bible. The highlands of Canaan (later Israel and Judah) are a fragile ecological zone, much of which is marginal for agriculture.”
Davis goes on to point out that upland farmers were always dealing with threats of erosion and desertification due to thin topsoil, periodic droughts, heavy winter rains and strong winds. Additionally, the mountain slopes and small valleys presented “one of the world’s most varied agricultural landscapes.” Because the patterns of wind, rain, and sun changed so dramatically over a small area, “each Israelite farm family had to know their own small plot of land intimately and, further, to perpetuate that particularized knowledge through the generations.” Within this agrarian culture, the parable of the sower takes on new meaning because to be productive, the farmer had to truly know the soil.
“A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop — a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” - Matthew 13:3-8
There are many other agrarian references. For example, in Isaiah 28:24-25, one reads that careful attention to certain practices was essential.
When a farmer plows for planting, does he plow continually? Does he keep on breaking up and working the soil? When he has leveled the surface, does he not sow caraway and scatter cumin? Does he not plant wheat in its place, barley in its plot, and spelt in its field?
These are all questions for the gardener. What should I plant? Where should I plant? Should I till the soil and if so when? Should I grow a cover crop? The first place to start, as in the parable of the sower, is to be aware of your soil. Testing is available through the University of Connecticut.
And for the seeker, these questions: What is my calling? How and when do I serve? Should I continue to pursue this goal or is it a season of rest?
Perhaps another place to start is by visiting the gardens at Mercy by the Sea Retreat and Conference Center. There are a variety of programs that honor the earth as well as many opportunities to explore the grounds. You can find a schedule of events here.
Last month we perused seed catalogues. Now what to do with all those seeds? Two processes, stratification and scarification, will help guarantee germination. Stratification is the gradual procedure of acclimating seeds to warmer temperatures. It replicates the natural process of resting in cool soil which then gradually increases in temperature. To accomplish this, you can place your seeds in cold moist potting soil in a dark place for several weeks. An alternative process is to place seeds between damp paper towels in a plastic bag.
“The second half of my life will be ice breaking up on the river, rain soaking the fields, a hand held out, a fire, and smoke going upward, always up.”
I begin this reflection on second half of life spirituality with an excerpt from Joyce Sutpen’s poem “Crossroads.” With so many poems on the topic from which to choose, I picked Sutpen’s for its evocative imagery and its outright acknowledgement that we can choose to thrive in the second half of our lives. In just a few lines, the poet describes some of the beautiful gifts we can anticipate.
