82 Many Lives
I rarely live anywhere these days, at least not if I’m there for any length of time, without seeing to some planting of one sort or another. My life, being as it is, it is true that I rarely get to see the fruits of the efforts I make, but I regard the planting and the caring in themselves to be sufficient reward.
I have had to be a little circumspect about my horticultural activities while here, as forestry officials have warned the monks about the danger of this place losing its character should they try and turn it into a garden, but I did manage to plant a number of hibiscus shrubs, both red and white, and crotons of one sort or another along the walking meditation path that lies behind the hermitage, which should add colour and variety, and not a little beauty when they have had time to grow. I also planted Queen of the Night just above the steps leading to the door and by next year that should see to this place being richly perfumed when darkness falls.
To love and care for our world we don’t have to be interested in the returns for our work, do we? Is it not enough while we are here to live somewhat peacefully – with ourselves and with each other – and to leave the place a little more beautiful when we go? Even this, modest as it sounds, seems to be beyond the ken of most people, caught up as they are in the struggle for self-assertion, decorating themselves with the acquisitions they hope will cover their nakedness, and finally leaving the world ravished but not enhanced by their presence.
People sometimes seem to be confused by the way I have chosen to live, lacking as it does all the usual and visible signs of a successful life; but I care little for what the world extols as desirable, and an open heart seems to me far preferable to the treasures of a kingdom, for it is life itself which is important, and its fulfilment is a matter of the inner life, not the outer.
Many are the lives I have led,
many the people I have been;
many the things I have witnessed,
and many places I have seen.
Many conditions I have known –
from dire poverty to great wealth;
in wholeness and sin am I found,
both in sickness and in good health.
But in all these situations
life it is that guides me along,
keeping watch on every step
and lifting my heart up in song.