I’m letting go. My flower beds, a bit unruly to begin with, have heard the call of the wild. In my absence, they welcomed their friends the weeds. They’re all having a very big time and I don’t have the energy to shut the party down. Some days I think – oh, I’ve given up. Other days I think – how beautiful! I’d like to think Thomas Merton wouldn’t mind. The butterflies certainly don’t.
From his journals…
August 5
The grip the present has on me. That is the one thing that has grown most noticeably in the spiritual life — nothing much else has. The rest dims as it should. I am getting older. The reality of now — the unreality of all the rest. The unreality of ideas and explanations and formulas. I am. The unreality of all the rest. The pigs shriek. Butterflies dance together against the blue sky at the end of the woodshed. The buzz saw stands outside there, half covered with dirty and tattered canvas. The trees are fresh and green in the sun (more rain yesterday). Small clouds, inexpressibly beautiful and silent and eloquent, over the silent woodlands. What a celebration of light, quietness, and glory! This is my feast, sitting here in the straw!
August 25, 1958, III.214-15
Gorgeous
Thank you, dear Betsy! Xoxo
I’m jealous of all your butterflies
lol I am always low key mad that my butterfly gardens don’t attract more butterflies. The photos in the post are of one butterfly in various locations haha. Xoxo
Love this post! And Thomas Merton’s writings. Not only does it seem like Merton wouldn’t mind, he’d likely see it as a spiritual reminder that God is in the unwanted plants as well as the cultivated ones.
Ahhh beautifully said, Linda. As always. You always enchant me. Xoxo
Love this. Weeds have taken over my garden as well. How wonderful to see the beauty in that.
Feels good to know I am not alone! Thank you for being in touch. Xoxo
What lush pictures and pictures in words. I have long given up on weeding…
You have too much else going on, Marina! Far too much. And handle it with grace. We shall let the weeds grow… xoxo
This has been so helpful to me. I also have been traveling and came home to my beautiful zinnias and lots of weeds. It’s too hot to weed but I felt so guilty. Now thanks to you and Merton I will see them in a different light.
Thank you so much for being in touch! Your message makes me feel good. Xoxo
Morning coffee, Thomas Merton’s reflections, Jennifer’s poetic photographs – what could be better?
Thank you, dear Jack! I love thinking of you and your Sunday morning coffee and Bacon! Xoxo
Maybe all those rains this season carried weed seeds! They did fill our vernal pond and now we have wood frogs. Lots of butterflies but where I have weeded in my big flower bed looks like a corn maze the grass is so high!
Thanks be to God for all living things and fertile soil.
Yes thanks be to God for such lush abundance, for all the growing things… I love how Yiyun Li puts it, “things in nature merely grow.” xoxo
Perfect post for today. Thank you for the Thomas Merton reflection.
It’s always good to hear from you, Sara – so glad you enjoyed this – xoxo
Love your garden……butterflies flowers and weeds.
As always, beautiful pics. I may have to get Merton’s book for next year! Just got back from first trip to Yellowstone. Took lots of wildflower pictures! Peace, LaMon.