Soul Tending
Bee and dahlia ~ photo by Susan Izard
Dear Soul Friends,
When I was a child, my mother taught me to plant and care for dahlias. She called them “dallies” and never missed a chance to talk about their beauty. She delighted in picking her dallies to bring into her house and share with others. Day after day she would faithfully arrange bouquets to give to a sick friend or dispirited neighbor. Sometimes she would send me down the street to drop them off. Nothing made her happier than to give her dallies to others.
Following in her footsteps, last May, on the day we bought our new home, I planted eight dahlia tubers with visions of colorful bouquets in late summer. Then we returned to our old home to pack up and move. Unable to tend the new garden, I could only hope that the tubers would start to root. Unfortunately, by the end of June when we moved into our new home, only three of the tubers had sprouted. Most had dried up. It was dispiriting to realize that for the first autumn in many years I would not have dahlias to share with others.
Only one of the tubers blossomed. The other two grew small clumps of green stems, but now there is no sign of them blooming even though the season has almost come to an end. Soon it will be time to dig up the tubers, clean off the roots and store them for the winter. As I stood looking at the clumps of foliage I wondered if it would be worthwhile to store these two dahlia tubers. What do their roots look like? Are they healthy? Would they bloom next year if I were to augment the soil and create a better environment for them? Would it be worth the effort to try again next year?
Tending to my soul year after year has taught me to be persistent in cultivating it. There are seasons in our lives when we feel out of touch with our souls. The usual ways that we have tended to our souls no longer offer insight or understanding. Sometimes a favorite prayer loses meaning. Sometimes a sickness, a busy work schedule, or a difficult personal problem interrupts reflective time. Sometimes it can even feel like our inner light has been lost and we’ll never find a way back to resting in soul wisdom. But our soul is our spirit’s home. Our soul longs for us to seek it out and listen to it.
Many years ago, a friend taught me a prayer that helps me to turn my concerns away from myself and focus on caring for others. I call it the prayer of illumination. It keeps me rooted and grounded in light and love.
~
O Gracious One, illumine my heart with your light.
Let my eyes be light and my ears be light.
Let there be light on my right and light on my left.
Let there be light above me and light below.
Let there be light before me and light behind.
O Gracious One,
Make me a light.
~
As you go through your week, may you be blessed by the gift of inner light and may your light shine on others.
Deep peace to you,
Susan
