The Garden is not merely a symbol of the memory of a lost Eden, but also holds the promise of a return. For tending the garden is a contemplative activity that opens a person to divine grace.
Contemplative action—whether gardening or painting—brings our attention, which wanders between memories of the past and constant visions of the future, back to the present. To the present, which we lose moment by moment, just as the first human couple lost Eden.
Our presence can transform action into contemplation: to persevere in this, moment by moment, is like cultivating an invisible yet very real garden around ourselves—the garden of presence.
Attila Kondor