Meditations in God's Garden<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Spring arrived slowly this year. \u00a0In Michigan, where I make my home, the earth is still brown and muddy and the trees are bare; and there's still the\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/kathyschiffer\/2015\/04\/meditations-in-gods-garden\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Meditations in God's Garden\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Spring arrived slowly this year. \u00a0In Michigan, where I make my home, the earth is still brown and muddy and the trees are bare; and there's still the\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/kathyschiffer\/2015\/04\/meditations-in-gods-garden\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Seasons of Grace\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-04-07T10:09:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-04-08T15:37:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/kathyschiffer\/files\/2015\/04\/A-Catholic-Gardeners-Spiritual-Almanac.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kathy Schiffer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kathy Schiffer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/kathyschiffer\/2015\/04\/meditations-in-gods-garden\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/kathyschiffer\/2015\/04\/meditations-in-gods-garden\/\",\"name\":\"Meditations in God's Garden\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/kathyschiffer\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-04-07T10:09:58+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-04-08T15:37:59+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/kathyschiffer\/#\/schema\/person\/e15e2847c72a2f422d45a893c1d8c8a4\"},\"description\":\"Spring arrived slowly this year. \u00a0In Michigan, where I make my home, the earth is still brown and muddy and the trees are bare; 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{"id":27915,"date":"2015-04-07T05:09:58","date_gmt":"2015-04-07T10:09:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/kathyschiffer\/?p=27915"},"modified":"2015-04-08T10:37:59","modified_gmt":"2015-04-08T15:37:59","slug":"meditations-in-gods-garden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/kathyschiffer\/2015\/04\/meditations-in-gods-garden\/","title":{"rendered":"Meditations in God’s Garden"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

$\"A$ <\/a>Spring arrived slowly this year. \u00a0In Michigan, where I make my home, the earth is still brown and muddy and the trees are bare; and there\u2019s still the chance that a rogue snowfall will smother the crocuses and the snowdrops, those delicate precursors of green grass and fragrant flowerbeds.<\/p>\n

Still, though, Spring is the time when our hearts turn to the garden. \u00a0Not in the hot Summer, when sultry breezes make it all too easy to set down the trowel and just loll around near the air conditioner; and not in the Fall, when the brilliant reds and yellows suggest the certain death that follows the first frost.<\/p>\n

So every Spring, seed companies mail out their catalogs, tempting customers with full-color photos\u00a0promising earthly delights.<\/p>\n

This year, though, I\u2019m anticipating\u00a0the first flush of Spring while\u00a0reading Margaret Rose Realy\u2019s latest book, A Catholic Gardener\u2019s Spiritual Almanac<\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n

Margaret is a master gardener. \u00a0It was my great privilege last summer to visit her home garden and to see the great care she\u2019d given to her perennials, the bottle art with which she punctuated the beds, the path that called visitors to spend just a few more minutes. \u00a0Tucked in among the hostas and the coreopsis, the daisies and the daylilies, Margaret had plants which encouraged prayer, plants named for Mary, the Mother of God, plants from biblical times.<\/p>\n

A Catholic Gardener\u2019s Spiritual Almanac<\/em><\/a> is a garden guide which takes the reader through the year\u2013combining instructions for preparing the soil, then harvesting, then resting peacefully during the cold winter months. \u00a0And all that work in the garden? \u00a0Well, Margaret sees it as a metaphor for the spiritual life. \u00a0In March, we\u2019re pruning; in April, preparing the soil; in June comes transformation and new life; and in July, we brace ourselves as the storms come\u2026.<\/p>\n

Margaret offers practical gardening tips and techniques, and much more. \u00a0Tucked into the pages of this lovely book are scriptural meditations with a garden theme; traditions and feasts of each month; Bible stories; stories of saints whose feasts fall during the month (St. Wenefrid, patron of vegetable gardeners), especially saints with gardening-related stories (St. Ulric, patron against rodents!) \u00a0The reader will enjoy picking up the book for just a few minutes, to explore faith-filled garden activities or to plan a liturgical garden or a Lenten garden.<\/p>\n

Margaret has brought together prayers and blessings, biblical reflections, directions for planting a Marian garden. \u00a0Here a poem, there a prayer\u2026.and always, an encouragement toward greater virtue. \u00a0I loved the table of flowers found on the Shroud of Turin, and the table of saints and associated plants.<\/p>\n

A Catholic Gardener\u2019s Spiritual Almanac<\/em><\/a>\u00a0would be\u00a0a great book to give as a gift, or to keep near at hand for inspiration, tending to both the garden and the soul. \u00a0You can read an entire chapter, or just a few paragraphs.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"