Belief Is a Garden

©2023 Susan Noyes Anderson

Image by Mike Erskine on Unsplash

Belief is a garden our hearts choose to grow.
Hope is the rich ground we need.
It takes testing and tilling, feeding and filling
to raise up the truth that we seed.

We can choose what to plant and how widely.
We can choose where to plant and how deep.
How much sun is required – how much water?
How much time to be spent on upkeep?

Once the seedlings appear, we hold sway.
Will we pull enough weeds to make space –
keep the nibblers and tramplers away?
Put our interest in some other place?

Grace is given, but we must give, too.
Through our labor, we find our own part:
to nurture and reap sacred knowledge.
(It roots best in a welcoming heart.)

Or we can let our ground run fallow –
discard fertile seeds never sown,
dig up wilted seedlings, once thriving –
and withdraw from the garden, ungrown.

A home in the garden crowns effort,
yielding blossoms of virtue and peace.
A home in the world plants reliance
upon thin things that crumble and cease.

Belief is a choice, not a handout.
It’s a hand up, a reach for the stars.
If we fail to claim what’s beyond them,
the only light lost will be ours.

Shine bright.   Choose the garden.   It flowers.

∞§∞

I have walked in faith, and I have walked without faith. What I know is that I am kinder, stronger, wiser, and happier when I walk with God in the faith tradition that has upheld and carried me through 71 years of living. For my heart and mind…on this day and always…that is true.

Most days, I know.
Other days, I choose to believe.
Either way, the blessings are real.

My plan is to live in the garden. The world doesn’t grow what I’m looking for.

If this poem resonates with you, you might also enjoy reading Divine Nature and Finding Faith in Christ.

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