The Garden

Let me start out by saying I for one do not have a green thumb. I`m unsure why, my guess is I grew up in town and my parents did not garden and I was never much of a veggie eater (still not).

As for playing in the dirt though, yeah, I loved it. The feel of the cool earth between my fingers is like clay in a potter’s hands.

That being said, let the analogy begin. This piece is me, thinking outside the box, other than that taught in catechism in my Catholic upbringing. An exploration of thought, of meaning, of interpretation; to teachings written in the Bible, decades after Jesus walked the Earth.

This exploration is in no way meant to offend nor negate another`s belief system. Nor am I looking to be blasphemous in anyway shape or form. I am simply a soul seeking, questioning and pondering.

I remember in school, the game of telephone. Where the teacher whispered a phrase into one student’s ear and that phrase was to be whispered to the student behind them, so on and so forth until the last student received the phrase and recited it to the class. Do you remember such a game in school? The lesson was to show how different the phrase was from its origin, to what was translated and built upon or detracted from the original by the time the last student recited said phrase.

What if (again not to offend) the Garden of Eden story of our beginning Jesus taught and the Bible was written upon, was like that of the phone game in school? That over the decades after Jesus walked the Earth, his stories were built upon or detracted from or misunderstood. He spoke in parables to teach his followers, and the Bible was written decades later. Like I stated, this is not to inflame or argue or take away from any beliefs you may or may not have. I`m exploring thought and meaning for myself to myself as a means of understanding, a means of seeking and a way of seeing.

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THE GARDEN

What if we are the garden, referenced in Genesis, the Garden of Eden? Could our bodies that house our souls, represent the garden of paradise? I know, sounds crazy but ponder with me if you will.

Our Brain- the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, brings forth its fruits, (thoughts and ideas, which lead us to actions good and bad)

The Tree of Life- our brain stem and spine- it`s branches- nerves, vertebrates

Could our birth, our first breath, be the moment we decided to eat from the Tree of Knowledge and come forth into this realm of life? Not as original sin but as in a soul’s exploration of experience. That from that tree we plucked experiences good and bad to be laid before us, to guide, to distract; all the while holding the map within our hearts, that of love.

Our bodies the garden that we harvest the fruits of our labor. (our thoughts) Do we feed it garbage such as hate, drugs, alcohol, greed, bigotry, etc. or do we fight the infestations of darkness of those things that come to feed off the soul within, bringing them to the light to flourish and to grow?

Like any garden, we tend to the soil. We nurture the soil with fertilizer, nutrients, water, sunshine and love. We cultivate the earth shaping our fields. The environment definitely plays its role with how our garden grows. Too much wind, rain, sun and insect invasion can cause any garden to lay in ruin.

The seed? Could that seed be the children we bring forth? Could that seed be the love within us we grow and share? Could it be faith in the divinity within us, helping us grow our crop, helping us yield that in which we sow. Could it mean all of the above?

Our souls, in this analogy, is the soil beneath the cloak of skin (earth) that we nourish and tend to. What do we feed it? (Food, of course but I am not speaking of sugary filled delights or veggies full of nutrients at this moment) I am speaking of -Love, compassion, truth, empathy, peace, joy, a connection to nature, etc. or pride, greed, wrath, envy, lust, gluttony and sloth. (7 deadly sins)

What environment do we surround ourselves in; or are we born into, and still trying to reap a healthy sustainable crop? Salvation being the analogy for that crop. Eternal life- birth- life-death constant, expanding, everlasting

The Bible describes the Garden of Eden as being located in the “east”. Our hearts are located in the eastern portion of our bodies. Do our hearts contain the place our soul resides within the garden?

I wonder- When I had my first pulmonary embolism, I almost died. The sense of dread immense, that I was close to death, that sense did not come from my brain. It came from the center of my chest, next to the heart. A knowing that I now walked within the valley of the shadow of death.

In Genesis 2:10-15- describes a river flowing out Eden that splits into four branches. Pishon-Gihon-Tigris-Euphrates

Let’s explore if we may: I will also share a diagram of the Aorta the largest (main artery) from the heart. This to aid in my hypothesis.

clipart of aorta

The first river- Pishon (Hebrew for “to jump” or “to bounce”)

Could Pishon, be the aorta, the largest artery from the heart (Eden)?

Originating from the left ventricle of the heart it carries the oxygenated blood to all parts of the body. Is this where the electrical impulses that causes our hearts to beat begin? The first lub-dub - the first jump or bounce.

*(The ascending aorta then transitions into the aortic arch, which brings us to our first branch off the aorta.)

The second river- Gihon (Hebrew - To burst forth, to gush)

The Brachiocephalic artery Trunk- This artery supplies blood to the head, neck and upper extremities. As it ascends it also branches, supplying blood to the brain and to the right subclavian artery.

Being that the brachiocephalic trunk is the first branch off the aortic arch, one could assume the bursting forth and gush of blood racing upwards to feed the brain. The Tree of Life.

(*We are getting an anatomy lesson out of this theory, for sure. 😉)

The third river- Tigris (Hebrew -Hiddekel -The great River)

The left Common Carotid artery- a major blood vessel in the neck that has its origins as the second branch within the aortic arch. As it ascends it bifurcates helping feed our brain, neck and face.

The fourth river- Euphrates (Hebrew- rushing or the great stream)

The left subclavian artery- the last branch off the aortic arch as the aorta then descends to feed the lower half of the body.

The subclavian is also considered a major blood vessel helping feed the vital parts of the upper body. (a great stream)

Our expulsion from the garden was for eating from the Tree of Knowledge and we were ashamed.

Yes, I know Eve gets the blame for talking Adam into eating the apple the serpent convinced her to eat.

What if (and I hope there are some that have made it this far) What if within our garden we all face at one time or another, a serpent. Whether that be of our own making or that thrust upon us by another.

Our shame, our pain, our suffering can lead us back to that garden within us, our source of love and help us replant the seed of faith in each other, in ourselves, in humanity to shine. To be a beacon of hope to reach heaven on earth in enlightenment.

The serpent represents evil. The stresses upon the heart where the soul resides in Eden. We constantly need to be aware of which tree we feed from and which fruit we allow to flow from our gardens.

This was my Sunday exploration into bringing the teachings of my youth to an understanding of where I am now in my souls’ journey.

Thanks for reading and remember: ✨Be the Light in Someone`s Darkness