A Return to The Garden
The Work of a Sovereign Gardener: Companion Planting Workshop Invites 'Garden of Eden' and 'Flowers of One Garden' Scripture to Summer Camp
“The fact that we imagine ourselves to be right and everybody else wrong is the greatest of all obstacles in the path towards unity, and unity is necessary if we would reach truth, for truth is one.” - Paris Talks, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, The Baha’i Writings
Two years ago, I co-created the film Real Unity and soon after, strayed from my original hope that humanity could flourish as flowers of one garden—an organically forming field of diverse growth.
In the film, I stated various ideals that I have since questioned, though one remains steadfast: Without justice, unity is tyranny. Without eyes wide open, justice cannot be made Divine.
Rooted in the belief that the United States of America will lead the world to its spiritual destiny, unity in diversity is not just a daydream but essential for a greater peace, the kind that no man, woman, or child has ever witnessed.
God planted us in the Garden of Eden, and forevermore every garden is a microcosm of our world. Baha’is as people of Baha (Light) and Christians as Lightworkers bloom where the sun shines. While there are a variety of beliefs some of which are not suited as companions, there are also a variety of beliefs that do delight in being companions in necessary conditions.
Offering the metaphor of humanity as flowers of one garden, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá's Divine Philosophy states: "In reality all are members of one human family—children of one Heavenly Father. Humanity may be likened unto the vari-colored flowers of one garden. There is unity in diversity. Each sets off and enhances the other's beauty."
Like plants, each of us exists on this planet for a reason. My Companion Gardening program at the Hillcrest Orchard Camp for kids 11-15 in Brooklyn, Wisconsin (July 6-10) will nourish the belief that members of humanity are flowers of one garden that is the earth. Some of us are tough tolerant echinacea, some are sweetly scented roses with protective thorns, others are dainty chamomile that just want to soothe their neighbors. Pairs of us, perhaps, are what's called in agriculture, antagonistic plants—crunchy cabbages which belong nowhere near the sweet strawberries. Moreover, there are acquaintance plants, which have complex needs for foundation/soil and can coexist in separate containers beautifully. There are also invasive thistles, which have medicinal "hearts" if properly understood and processed.
While the companion/antagonist metaphor can be helpful framing, I find even more relevance in acknowledging each of us as anti-heroes doing the best we can with the foundation beneath our feet. And so, no matter what ideas you may consider, it is brave to approach complex topics and do one's best to walk a fine line in this messy garden. That said, the belief or the entertaining of an idea isn't as important to me as the approach to it. One approach with children questioning their place on this planet is to embody the complexity of human nature, affirm their spiritual gifts and their nobility — leaning into listening, showing more and telling a bit less, leaving them excited that their unique experiences may just be proof of their humanity, that they are yet another flower in our grand garden.
Humanity are flowers of one garden. Being noble invites truthfulness, including the truth that we are all such flowers equal in the eyes of God. Without this acknowledgment, it is all too easy to fall into the trap of the delusion of dehumanization. The difference between a weed and a flower is, at times, faulty human judgment.
Grounding in the garden is hard work. While the soil is hard, it is also tender. As Americans, we are like flowers in one potted garden with poor soil in parts, fertile soil in others. It’s not enough. When a flower doesn’t bloom you change the environment. You make the soil workable.
Grounded in a truth of God’s creation, I see humanity in a container gardening stage, learning to companion-plant and space accordingly in defined pots and raised beds.
Imagine a place where we grow together, where we speak in silence. Imagine creating a place where we need not call upon material solutions to force progress, where we are deciphering truth from trend and exploring the nuance of that truth through spiritual solutions to problems at hand.
So if you’re ready to even think about unity, but are feeling uneasy like I am, I invite you to do this work with me. Real unity is possible in a place where we stop wholesaling ideology and stop filing ourselves away in boxes, where we instead tend to each other like flowers and encourage each other’s growth.
“You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.” -Isaiah 58:11
Today the world feels dangerously divided, but we must be careful not to lose our humanity while fighting for humanity itself. Thanks to my new Baha’i friend, Jessica Kerr, who gifted me this keychain, for sowing a reminder that unity is possible.
Let’s grow together
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Happy Growing.
I dido Wade’s comments. Please keep writing. You write what I think in such beautiful metaphors and word choices. And then there’s the gardening connection 🥰
What a beautiful and inspiring presentation. I am so honored and proud to be connected with you.