Dear Bruce, Do we need a Gardener?

Dear Bruce,

I am not a believer, but am searching, I guess, for what life is all about.  Last week in your Dear Bruce letter you wrote about the “Gardener”.  While the logic seemed pretty solid, I have been wrestling this week with the question, “Do I need a gardener?”  So, I ask you, why do we need a Gardener?  Can’t we just all get along? to use a cliche.  Help me understand.

Mike

Mike,

Your question is a legitimate one, and one which only a brave searcher will ask.  If you are asking the question honestly and really seeking an answer then I think you will find an answer which makes moral, intellectual, spiritual and personal sense.

I begin with today’s newspapers and headlines from across the country.  In the L.A. Times I read a story today of a former high profile billionaire/tech executive who was recently indicted on charges ranging from illegal sex, drugs, and corporate fraud.  This is the story of a man who, once he tasted the high life, needed an ever increasing supply of pleasure to fill the void in his soul.  The story reads like a classic case of a life lived without any acknowledgment of a Gardener.  Illicit sex, drug abuse, power abuse, egotism, and many other ugly things came to dominate this bright man’s life.  Now, apparently, he is headed to prison.

I also read, today, the story of a man in Connecticut who was struck by a car in the middle of a busy street with people teaming along the walkways.  The incident was caught on tape and the video revealed that no one rushed to help the 78 year old man who just lay bleeding and suffering in the street.  Apparently the video has caused a surge of moral grief and questioning in the community where it took place.

Still, today, in the headlines, I read a story of another man who after losing his job and finding it hard to find another attempted to medicate his stress and pressure by looking for sex partners on the Internet.  As his moral downward spiral played out he took the drastic measure of killing his own wife and daughter.  In the aftermath, of course, he is awash in grief and shame.

I would also like to highlight a recent trip I took to Beverly Hills.  While in the city for a week or so I spent a good deal of time eating with, interacting with, and watching the richest of the rich on their own turf.  Eating lunch one day in a very swanky eatery I sat next to a high profile writer and another Hollywood executive.  I could not help but hear the conversation which was one rumor after another, and which was filled with personal anecdotes about each person’s adventures in the therapist’s office.  On one evening I attended a jazz gig at a Hollywood insiders hangout out (not sure how I got in), and witnessed an aesthetically pleasing but very sad scene.  Everyone there was looking, clearly, to see and be seen.  I even saw one beautiful woman working the room handing out gifts (jewelry) to those who were clearly the most “in” insiders.  Being from out of town, and though wearing my most chic get up, not one person paid me an ounce of attention.  Everyone in the entire room knew someone, everyone but me that is.  Can you say “awkward”?  Again, listening in to the conversations and witnessing the activities over the course of a couple of hours or more, I was struck by the paradox of exclusive beauty and the overwhelming and singular shallowness.  Not of value was spoken about by anyone, and just about every person there that I overheard spoke only of sex, money, drink, and tabloid behavior.

I highlight these realities and could highlight many more simply to call your attention to how life pans out when we attempt to live it without regard to a moral compass.  Life lived for an audience of unending numbers leaves us, always, without inner peace and rest.  Life lived for another dollar always leaves us lusting for more.  Life lived for another thrill takes us to addictive patterns we seldom recover from.  In essence, without recognition that we live for an audience of One, we live for the moment.  Life lived that way always leaves us less than fulfilled.

What happens to those, for example, who lust to be “in” and never quite get there?  Or what happens in the heart of the individual whose entire life is defined by being “in” when the bottom falls out and they are cast out?  Where do they go then for companionship?

Thankfully, the Gardener of which the Bible speaks is one who, though an outcast Himself, desires that we all come to Him and be found “in” Him.  He does not despise the lowly, He exalts the humble, and He loves the unlovely.  His invitation is open to all, even the “in” crowd, but reality demonstrates that those thirsting to be “in” in this world rarely take time to hear His call.  That deafness of heart leads to the death of a soul.

In coming to the Gardener for life to the full we do not have to give up all the good things which come into our lives.  But we find in Him our compass, our passion, our purpose, and our aim which gives rise to the things we pursue.  In Him, in success and in defeat, we can find hope because we know our life is not meaningless.  We need a Gardener because without one, it is clear, this world and our hearts become less and less inclined to pursue beauty, truth, grace, compassion, love and humanity.   We were made for Him.  When we choose to live without Him life just does not make sense.

Bruce Smith

optimuslife.rog

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