As we come to the close of the year, the attention turns to gratitude for all that has been freely given.
For the garden:
Thank you for the two white peonies blossoming on International No Self-Hate Day.
Thank you for a spot to sit in silence at day’s end and wonder in the golden light of the setting sun.
Thank you for the spark of wild radish blossoms on the tongue in the spring.
Thank you for the garden gazebo. What magic to sit there for a guidance appointment surrounded by birdsong.
Thank you for nurturing the oak tree so retreatants can sit in its shade and shell the bounty of fava beans in the early summer.
Thank you for giving visiting monks the opportunity to participate in the magic of growth through the nightly watering of garden beds.
Thank you for providing the loving backdrop against which it is possible to witness the dedication of the garden steward and volunteers showing up in any weather to sustain the garden.
Thank you for being a reflection of Authenticity: generosity, abundance, beauty, silence, and acceptance.
Thank you for providing the many who visited the Monastery this year with the opportunity to give and receive.
In gassho,
Sequoia