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Well, I'm hoping to get my thoughts collected well enough about this chapter to make at least of bit of sense.
I am working on making my "job" here easier for me ..... I am not going to bring up every single thing that I see in these chapters (it was getting to be WAY too much time and pressure-from myself). Instead, I am going to force myself to only bring up a few things ..... and hopefully you all will fill in the rest. So ..... just because I don't write it here .... doesn't mean I didn't see it--nor does it mean that it's not important enough for YOU to write about it. Bring up EVERYTHING that God lets you see!!!!
The words in this chapter ...... the ideas, the thoughts, the lessons ..... are all churning around inside of me, making it difficult to focus ...... very much like the way Mack felt as he tried to follow Sarayu (I loved how he thought she was obviously not a being who is predictable!) through her garden and tried to see everything that was around him at the same time.
It was overwhelming ..... but in an oh, so very good way.
That's how I feel.
This chapter is "chaos in color", as Mack described the garden.
Mack tried to find some "order" in the garden but found instead that there was a "blatant disregard for certainty" (p. 128).
That explains my life ..... I have been seeking "order" over the past 15 months, but instead have found that "blatant disregard for certainty" ...... and I am finally realizing, as Mack did, that it is "confusing, stunning, and incredibly beautiful."
Wow ---- to see what's inside of me put into black and white ..... even more stunning and beautiful.
And I loved that he told Sarayu that her garden looked like a "mess" ...... and she replied, "What a wonderful compliment!"
I again notice the repeating theme of the overwhelming of the senses .... the fragrances, the aromas .... even to the point of being able to taste them.
The next thing that jumped out of my soul when I read it on the page .... was Sarayu's instruction to Mack: pull out everything that is beautiful to make room for something special.
Really?!! Mack, as we humans ...... couldn't understand that!
But again ...... it jumped out OF my soul and in front of me ........ this is definitely what God did, and has been doing since December 18, 2007. He took out the most beautiful thing in my garden, Jim ..... something I never would have agreed needed to be removed, or replaced ....... and left, in his place, a very large "wound in the (my) garden" (p. 131).
And now He's preparing and planting and tending to that wound ...... and it will eventually be as, if not more, beautiful as before.
I loved this line from Sarayu (p.131): "It's not the work (pulling out the beautiful things), but the purpose that makes it special. And, it's the only kind I do."
This sentence brought (and brings) tears to my eyes.
And I whisper, "Thank you ..... for loving me THAT much .... for having a purpose."
I also like the discussion of "good" and "bad". God don't do "bad" (forgive the slang). But He don't.
We, as humans, define what's bad (or even more serious ... what's "evil") when we are absent from God. I loved that she said that evil and darkness do not exist. Only Light and Good exist, but it's we who plunge ourselves into darkness when we distance ourselves from God. (p. 136).
Saraya goes so far as to say (in explaining the non-existence of evil) .... if we, as humans, give up our "right"(ha!) of "independence" (double ha!) ...... it could mean that ...
"... that in one instance, the good may be the presence of cancer or the loss of income ---or even a life."
There. Are. No. Words.
I also really liked how Sarayu described science (p. 132): " ... ---to discern and discover what we have hidden for you to find".
That made me smile.
I imagine it makes God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit smile a lot, too.
:)
And ---- I thought this sentence was so powerful (in their discussion of poisonous plants, and safety while in God's presence) from Sarayu: "So, if you are not hearing my voice, it would be wise to take the time to understand the nature of the plant."
So very powerful with so much meaning ...... because we have so very many "plants" in our world.
There was a lot more said about our "rights" and the way we define things ..... and our striving to be independent beings ......SO much ........ but I'd like to stop here and have everyone else jump in and discuss.
I really loved this chapter ..... and seeing how clearly God is speaking to me through it.
When, on the last page, Mack says that he feels strangely at home and comfortable in that garden, Sarayu says:
"And well you should, Mackenzie (Janine), because this garden is your soul. This mess is you!
Together, you and I, we have been working with a purpose in your heart. And it is wild and beautiful and perfectly in process. To you it seems like a mess, but to me, I see a perfect pattern emerging and growing and alive --- a living fractal".
And I say ..... "Thank God!"
Now discuss ......
First a comment on yours: You noted the comment on p.131, but you left out the first, most important part. “Oh, Mackenzie, if you only knew. It’s not the work, but the purpose that makes it special. And it’s the only kind I do.” When I read that first part I feel the poignant compassion of God. When the tearing up is going on, Mack, and we, can rarely ever know the purpose. And that makes it terribly hard for us. And God knows that. And His great heart of compassion sighs with us. We are incapable, at that point, of knowing what we need to know. But there IS one thing that we can know. And if we really do KNOW it, it is enough. We know that the Sovereign God loves us. And “special” is all He does.
ReplyDeleteIt is just so hard to keep that a certainty before our eyes when our garden is getting renovated. We liked those old plants. We were comfortable with them. And we just have such a hard time really trusting Him to do something new and special. And I think it tears God up to realize that we simply are unable to see what He is doing.
A question for you all. If you’ve finished the book you know what will go into the hole, the newly prepared soil where the plant was taken out. What was the plant that was taken out? Why does God require that we get rid of something, instead of simply enlarging our garden?
Then a couple of my observations: First, on p.132, second paragraph. This is an astounding idea; that man is dragging down the entire Creation with us. It is completely Biblical. But somehow it is so striking the way it is laid out here. It is mind boggling to consider what Creation might have been like if man had been a good steward.
Second, the conversation that begins in the middle of p.134 and runs about 3/4 of the way down p.137; this is my absolute favorite part of the whole book. This, to me, is the most profound idea in the whole book, because it illustrates how utterly incapable man is of really evaluating even the things that happen to us, as to whether they are good or evil. If we really understand the principle that lies behind this, it revolutionizes life. When people ask me how I’m doing, I usually reply, “Life is good when you’re me.” And the reason I can say that is because, if the principle in this section is true, then what is to be believed is God’s goodness toward me, not the mere appearances of the ups and downs that life may throw at me. If you can master this concept, it will totally and utterly change your life. Because it goes right to the heart of who God is.
Tom
One other quick question: If the garden is us, or our hearts, then what are the poisonous plants? I think there may be an interesting answer here.
ReplyDeleteTom
I see poisonous plants as the things I hold dearly. The things that I hold so dearly that I have placed them before God. These are things that may be beautiful. They may even be good and helpful things when used correctly. When I place them before God though, they are like poison to my relationship with him. As much as I'd like to tell myself that I am way too wise for that kind of idol worship...I do believe I'm carrying around some itchy ivy in a back pocket.
ReplyDeleteTamara, I like your take on it. It is a different direction than my mind was going. But not altogether unrelated.
ReplyDeleteAs I was thinking about it, the part of the story that caught my attention was at the bottom of p.132 and top of p.133. Sarayu points out that you should be able to hear God's voice before you touch it, that you need to understand the nature of the plant, that it is wrong to assume that the "poison" is bad, and that there are incredible healing properties and magnificent wonders associated with the "poisonous" plants.
There may be other things that fit that description, but the first one that comes to my mind is sex. In the setting where God says we can touch it, it is a wonderful thing. Otherwise it can be a terrible poison.
But as you say, Tamara, sex is also something that, in our society, is frequently placed before God and can poison our relationship with Him and even with others.
I wonder. Can you think of other things in life that can be either poison or good depending on how we "touch" it in relation to God?
Tom