On this first day of spring it became official: Michelle Obama, with a group of children, started an organic garden on the White House lawn. The Garden on the South Lawn “will be 1100 square foot kitchen garden that will provide food for family dinners and formal dinners.” It will have something like 56 varieties of organic herbs and vegetables. A group called Eat The View has been promoting this garden for a long time. I was surprised that only one of my ‘green friends’ mentioned it to me by email and none of the many “green web list servers” I receive even mentioned it. Oh well, maybe did they did not wake up yet to this good news.
The story goes that when the Buddha’s followers asked him who he was he replied: “I am awake.” I have one old friend always trying to ‘wake us up’ to the disastrous road he sees our country taking. Like me he is often criticized for being critical and pointing out conflicts. In fact I had to send today another old friend, who was upset at me for disagreeing with him on some very small things, a copy of Frederick Douglas’ quote on healthy conflict that appears on the Nonviolent Cow quote page. To be awake and aware means accepting conflicts and disagreements without “without questioning the motives of our adversaries.”
When we really see nature we see all types of conflicts but we also see the wholeness and beauty of the whole of nature. Conflicts can create Unity, not divide us.
Most religious teach that we are all one, one human nature, one body in Christ, and one with everything. If we are looking for the unity in the diversity, not the differences, we can use conflict to wake up.
Now we can wake up and smell not only the roses on the White House Lawn but the mint, kale and basil.
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