Lent 2021: A Story to Live BySample

The gardener

So you walk through heaven's gates

(which of course are not gates,

are nothing that can be narrow,

nothing that can be closed)

and you are surprised to find yourself

not in a throne room,

but in a garden.

There are sweet peas and sunflowers,

there are bees among the lavender,

there are roses. There are thorns

on the stems of the roses.

The soil is dark,

and not unfamiliar.

Looking for the one in charge

you notice the gardener.

They are pottering around;

they are idling around;

there is dirt beneath their nails.

You notice the sort of smile that suggests

they are about to reveal

the most wonderful secret.

Author: Gideon Heugh