This Too Shall Pass

For the past week and a half I had intended to write a blog entry about the importance gardens have played through the dawn of time and to compare it with my own, and how we cultivate family and friends in our own personal garden. Well that's it in a nutshell. It would have been the topic, but God has a way of letting you know when he has a different lesson to learn.

"This too shall pass". That phrase keeps popping up in my head. It spilled out onto my tongue as I was driving to the cemetery on the one year anniversary of Mom's passing. As I watched the almost black clouds building over the direction of Mount Olivet Cemetery, my cell phone rang. It was my sister, who asked if we shouldn't wait to go after mass. "This too shall pass" came into my head and I said "no, it will be all right". I think I am the only one who didn't drive through any rain. I waited and thought of the times my Mom had said "This too shall pass" when I was all worked up over something very temporary. The storm clouds passed and I used the phrase to compare the dark clouds to the strains and pain of mourning. Somethings pass quicker, but all eventually does.

As I mentioned at the beginning, I have been working on my garden. Planting seedlings of tomatoes, peppers, carrots and sunflowers. Thinning out my raspberries, and planting geraniums, salvia, marigolds and various other blooms. I Thought of the garden of Eden, of Christ in the garden. My angel figures made it so peaceful to work and think. Then, like every year, I forgot about my spring allergies. I have been coughing, wheezing, and sneezing as my eyes watered and my head filled up with pressure. I got worse each day and was popping medication and drinking home remedies. I was miserable!

Then I stood at my window looking out at the new buds on my clematis. The clematis likes to tease me every year. Everyday it looks like they will pop open. But they just love to build up the anticipation of their beautiful blooms. I told myself to be patient, it will be worth it. In the meantime I sat at the computer with a box of Kleenex, waiting to find myself with a better, more positive outlook toward spring and my garden. I looked up the origin of "This too shall pass". I'll let you find out the story of King Solomon and the ring, but the thing I learned that it is a double edged sword. This allergy attack will pass, and I will feel better. But my blooming garden will also pass, and I will be digging up dormant bulbs and dead roots in the fall. My life too will come to pass. And I hope to be remembered for the garden I cultivated and not the coughing and sneezing I put up with to do it.