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Guroian finds the nose an indispensable companion for the spiritual journey. The garden is a place of sensory delight, a place where childhood memories come rushing back with the sniff of an old rose. Guroian argues with medieval theologians who spoke of sight as the mystical sense, and gently insists that smell is the most mystical sense. "The garden has persuaded me of this," he writes. Catholics, Episcopalians, and the Orthodox perhaps know most readily the connection between the sweet odors of incense as an invitation to the Divine; those of us who live where lilacs bloom in the spring might also be easily agreeable to his notion.

As he explores gardening and the spiritual life, Guroian mines the wisdom of the church fathers and mothers, including Origen of Alexandria, St. Ephrem of Syria, St. Bonaventure, Dame Julian of Norwich, and Dionysius the Pseudo-Areopagite. This adds to the pleasure of reading for those of us so inclined. Gardening, after all, is as old as time.

Rather than interloper or exploiter, Guroian argues, man's essential role on the Earth is that of a gardener, gifted with the responsibility to cultivate creation and offer it as thanksgiving to God. We are "apprentices" to the "Master Gardener." "Paradise is not wilderness," he writes, which will surely provoke discussion among his readers. "Paradise is a garden, cultivated by Adam and blessed by God." Without human presence, he argues, creation is mute and cannot glorify the Creator. He quotes Byzantine churchman Leontis of Neapolis to bolster his argument: "The creation does not venerate the Creator directly and by itself, but it is through me that the heavens declare the glory of God, through me the moon worships God, through me the stars glorify him, through me the waters and showers of rain, the dews and all creation, venerate God and give him glory."

Hmmm. What does Guroian make of the Luke 19:40 passage about Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem about the people cheering; "If they keep quiet, the stones would cry out?"

Surely all readers will agree, however, with Guroian's assertion that our wanton, selfish abuse of Creation today is a continuance of original sin. Or for that matter, that gardening is a continual metaphor and reminder to us of the resurrection of Jesus Christ and our own eventual resurrection to new life.

Perhaps most compelling is Guroian's belief that in our urban and suburban worlds we are losing consciousness of our deep, primal connection to the earth. We must reconnect, "Lest we forget who and what we are," he writes, to which I would add, "and Whose we are."

Let's dig deep into the dirt. Nurture seedlings. Prune vines. Stop and smell the proverbial roses. Sit in the shade of a beech tree and admire the backlighting of the leaves. Let's learn the names of the birds that come to our feeders, the wildflowers that spring up by the woodpile. The spiritual journey could start at no better place than in the garden.

Cindy Crosby is the author of By Willoway Brook: Exploring the Landscape of Prayer (Paraclete) and the editor/compiler of the forthcoming Ancient Christian Devotional (InterVarsity Press).

Related Elsewhere:

The Fragrance of God is available from Christianbook.com and other book retailers.

Guroian is author of

Dorm Brothel | The new debauchery, and the colleges that let it happen. (Jan 21, 2005)

More about Vigen Guroian, including his biography, publications, and contact information, are available from his website.

Guroian's other books, including Tending the Heart of Virtue: How Classic Stories Awaken a Child's Moral Imagination and Inheriting Paradise: Meditations on Gardening are available from Christianbook.com and other book retailers.

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May (Web-only) 2006, Vol. 50