Not being much of a religious scholar (I’m the guy who picked a drum set over a Bar Mitzvah) I had to pop over to the “Readers Digest of research”, Wikipedia, to make sure I’d get this reference right. The concept of “Eden” grows out of Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Islam and Christianity). That’s about all they can agree on, as the probable location tends to move around depending on the zip code of the believer. But it always connotes paradise, so the garden metaphor tends to stick.
Shirley Bovshow and I have had a virtual connection for a little less than a year via our mutual blog postings. She an L.A.-based landscape designer and host of the very popular “Garden Police” TV show (Discovery Home Channel). She also hosts a blog called Edenmakers, hence my in-depth research.
Shirley just posted a very thoughtful piece about how along with a great piece of video about how all of us who engage in gardening and landscaping practices are creating slices of Eden for ourselves and others: Shirley starts the post, “An Eden Maker brings a little bit of paradise to our world by creating a garden, growing a plant or preserving the beauty of our natural world by establishing a beneficial relationship with nature.” I wanted to make sure my readers don’t miss this enjoyable and inspiring piece.
Enjoy – leave a comment for Shirley if you’re so moved.
PS: I just made another connection - my Edhat biweekly column is titled "In the Garden of Ed(en)". How 'bout dat?
5 comments:
Hey Billy,
Thanks for the shout out! How can I read your Edhat column? Is it available online?
Keep on eden making Billy!
Shirley
You wrote this so well and it makes me want to read more of your work. I already know Shirley is awesome.
I'm going to tour your blog a bit and see more.
Anna: welcome to my world. As the header at the top of my blog states, this blog is a bit of a wild ride. Enjoy and feel free to leave comments along the way. I'll click over your way for a peek, too.
I'm writing a memoir right now, and one chapter is on various global religious viewpoints on nature, and another is on garden deisgn from around the world. What strikes me is that nearly EVERY religion is based on respect for nature, so much so that at times doing harm to it was once punishable by death. The idea of Eden is certainly one of repose and reflection, but more so protection: from heat, disease, war. I'm thinking of Persian gardens for the former, and monastic gardens for the latter. It's interesting to me how Eden must now be a human creation, as if what God (if you believe this) created isn't Eden--i.e. that it does not still exist naturally today. It's inevitable, I suppose, just as in other artforms, that nature and humanity collide, that through gardens we try to come to some sense of our purposes, to assuage our fears, desires, longings. This is why we pollute, why we murder--we no longer believe in the Eden we are in right this minute, and the idea that it doesn't need our hand in it is so humbling it disturbs us to the core so we eventually act out in negative ways.
Happy Birthday!!!
Post a Comment