Do you wonder what the Third Chapter is about at Gloria Dei? How are Third Chapter and love of gardening and sense of spirituality and meaning of life connected?
Third Chapter: Spirituality as We Age, is a newer initiative at Gloria Dei, and serves as both an expression and forum for talking about and experiencing the periods of growing and changing as we age. The Third Chapter is a stage in life when our work, career, or family lives are no longer at the center of living. As we move from adulthood and middle years, we are neither “young nor old”, finding ourselves with new time, energy, and interests. Third Chapter is a time in life to renew, discover, nourish, and reflect about these gifts and blessings— opportunities, meanings, and relationships. Nancy Agneberg, leader of the Third Chapter planning team, invites us to “reflect on the gift of creation and the challenge to be a source of ongoing creation”.
Soil, Seeds and Spirituality, a two part conversation series, is being led by Gloria Dei member Meg Stevenson (landscape designer, happy gardener). The first session was held on a mid-April, sun-filled morning, just a few days after the blizzard, the snow melt underway and signs of spring in the air. After opening our conversation by singing together the hymn, Morning Has Broken(aided by a Cat Stevens recording), Meg’s shared her gardening story, grounded in her genes from grandparents and parents, evolving into college education, and lived in family, faith, career (semi-retired), and relationships. Our conversation centered on seeing the power in the metaphor of a garden to represent life or our lives, everything from the four seasons to waiting and patience to passage of time to our roles as the master gardener of our mind, body and spirit. Meg shared a poem or reading from three books on gardening and spirituality to illustrate the following points:
- – creating a good foundation (soil)
- – planting good seeds and plants
- – tending to watering, pruning, weeding
- – enjoying the beauty of blooms and growth
- – harvesting the fruits
Our second session with Meg is Wednesday, May 16 from 9:00 – 10:30a.m. as we continue to explore our spiritual connection and the meaning of life to our love of gardening. We will:
- – walk around Gloria Dei to view our rain, prairie, hunger and courtyard gardens
- – learn about new cultivars and plants
- – respond to your gardening questions.
The best place to find God is in a garden. You can dig for him there. George Bernard Shaw
A garden is always a series of losses set against a few triumphs, like life itself. May Sarton