[Meditations are intended to be read sequentially, from 1 to 33.] Again in the Wilderness … “Don’t want to go to the Hill. Involves commitment.” The Garden is much better. It requires nothing but your presence. The beautiful creature is a wonderful host. He is so smart, cunning, and encouraging. He makes us feel good, godlike. We find the Hill generally depressing. “Except when there,” whispers our soul — but, we know better. What good is a soul? Does it... Read more

[Meditations are intended to be read sequentially, from 1 to 33.] In the Wilderness … “Who am I?” Tears. It’s been long in coming — and still longer since last we cried. Once again we seemingly had it all in the Garden. Now all is lost. Again we were betrayed. It wasn’t the fault of the creature, or the environment of plenty. It was the others who chose to inhabit the oasis of the Garden. Damn them! “Did they not... Read more

[Meditations are intended to be read sequentially, from 1 to 33.] In the Garden … It is easier in the Garden. The Hill involves sacrifice. For love requires that one give up self for other. Joy necessitates suffering. Peace implies war. Patience is ultra-sacrificial. And kindness quite often makes us nauseous! Our taste buds dance was we bite again into the fruit of pride. Yes, we eat it for a remedy. We were a little queasy last eve after a... Read more

[Meditations are intended to be read sequentially, from 1 to 33.] Again on the Hill … “Fear God and all will be well.” There it is again — that thought. What does it mean to fear God? Why, how, is it that “all will be well?” The man who brought us to the Hill has been gone for a long time. Perhaps it was all a dream? A hoax even? Maybe it would be better in the Garden. Had the... Read more

[Meditations are intended to be read sequentially, from 1 to 33.] On the Hill we sit … How we got here, we’re not quite sure. Yet, thankful we be. For some odd reason, it seems that we’ve been sitting here ‘neath the Tree on the Hill … staring off into space. And, oddly enough, this seems all right. We remember that in the Garden we were clothed as royalty. Here, we sit in the shade of redemption — naked —... Read more

In my secular work, the clinical team shares a daily reading during their staff meetings. Today’s, June 17th, caught my eye. Thus, we interrupt the series of Two Trees meditations for the following … meditation: The desire to believe the best of people is a prerequisite for intercourse with strangers; suspicion is reserved for friends. — Mary McCarthy How often we find ourselves treating our acquaintances with exquisite courtesy, while our friends and loved ones get our yawns, our sulks,... Read more

[Meditations are intended to be read sequentially, from 1 to 33.] In the Garden … Knowledge. Eating of the fruits of the Tree in the Garden, we find that we can’t get our fill. “More, more, more!” we passionately cry. Though we tire of anger, it seems to be a constant, consistent, emotion in our dominion. Lust, we find, leads to action. The deed being done, we lie alone wasted with grief and remorse. The cure for which we also... Read more

[Meditations are intended to be read sequentially, from 1 to 33.] In the Wilderness … It seems that every day we awake in the Wilderness. Then we must choose to either spend our time in the Garden or on the Hill. Decisions, decisions, decisions … “I cannot do it alone.” It was just a thought. Or did it come from deeper within? Whatever it was, it landed us on the Hill! But, immediately upon our arrival, we found that we... Read more

[Meditations are intended to be read sequentially, from 1 to 33.] Again in the Garden … Our soul alone in silence waits. Something is not right. In the Garden, we think we have found Paradise. Yet why is our soul so unhappy? Can it not taste the fruit? Does it not feel the power? Is it not shining with the light of the Garden? “No,” says the soul. For a moment, our brain — even our body — agrees. But... Read more

[Meditations are intended to be read sequentially, from 1 to 33.] In the Garden … In the Garden there is only life. The hill of death and doom seems to us now like a bad dream. We are thankful to be in the Garden. The beautiful and inviting creature tells us that the Tree in the Garden is known as the Tree of Life. After what we saw on the Hill, we believe him. We then sink our teeth into... Read more