Life paused to watch her

as she stood there,

confused, heart-broken and

a little angry…

Rendered almost helpless by the weight

of the dirt, the sharpness of the stones that

surrounded her, teeming with the biting pests

that caused her to shudder

uncontrollably.

Life watched as she closed her eyes,

tilted her head a bit to one side

and listened to the rising winds whisper to her

the story, once again, of how

this came to be…

and with her hair whipping wildly

she opened her eyes, knelt down and began

to mix the dirt and rock and biting things

that caused her to cringe…

and as she did

she tore pieces of her heart with dirt-stained fingers

and planted love relentlessly.

Life watched, as she did not waver

from her task even when it called the storms,

brought the lightning, thunder, hail and biting rain.

When others came to mock her, or call her

home to safety, she would tilt her head

just a bit,

listen to the sound of the winds

tell her story again,

and wave them away.

This would be her garden

her Holy Place

her Sacred Ground…

And when, in spite of all that came before,

the tiny shoots of tender green

broke free and tipped themselves with the first hint

of color in the face of the storm,

or perhaps because of it,

Life bowed to her

and chose to express itself,

as it does to this day,

in the beauty of the garden

she created from It.