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Studies have shown that the "prayer" of gardening, like meditation, heightens
relaxation, increases self-esteem, stimulates the senses and reduces blood pressure. This
book of lighthearted prayer-poems and "backyard theology" will make you aware of
God in your garden — whether a full acre or window-box planter — helping it grow
into another Eden!
If you love to garden — or know anyone who does — this book will give any garden more Springtime Life than a good rain or dose of manure. . .and it makes a perfect gift!
Introduction by Miriam Therese MacGillis, founder of Genesis Farm, an ecological learning center....(Forest of Peace Publications $11.95)
"This little book comes as a prayer. May we hear in it the prayer of
the earth itself, yearning to shake us up out of our sleep and entrance us
with the wonder and beauty of her creativity. . ." Miriam Therese
MacGillis, from the Introduction.
From page 14
A Gardener's Springtime Prayer
Here are my hands, Spirit of Earth and Space,
mysterious Wisdom within and behind everything that is
and is promising,
Gardener ever ancient, ever new,
who fashioned out of those colossal explosions at our beginning
all the avenues to life, to its complexities,
and to the communion we are destined for,
here are my hands.
Give them the skills of a midwife
to put good order into expectations,
to coax along the natural forces of life and growth
that are already within the earth,
and to help wisely with the harvesting.
Here are my hands,
and here are my dreams.
Part One: "Prayers of Garden Plants A to Z" :Acorn, Broccoli, Carrot,
Dogwood, Endive, Farkleberry, Garlic . . .down to Xigua, Yam and Zucchini.
Part Two: "Prayers of Garden Creatures" (18 in all from Dung Beetle
to Love Bug) and "A Backyard Theology" with comments on Seeds, Earth, Dung,
Rain . . . down to Growth and Justice.
Plus a bonus of dozens and dozens of gardening hints.
More Excerpts...
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