The Great Reversal

I grab the hose out of his hand and face the vegetable plot.  What meets my eye there… well, it’s quite indescribable.

You see, in my garden, I am well accustomed to going from life to death… and more death. For years I have been perfecting the art of killing and destroying everything living within our property lines and beyond. I’ve killed by watering, I’ve killed by mowing, I’ve killed by fertilizing, I’ve killed by trying to care so hard that I stopped caring altogether. The Death Valley sprawled around our house in ever-increasing cycles of death by neglect. 

Then, there was that desperate prayer asking God to do what only He can do, namely, the impossible,

Oh God, You who created the world out of nothing, You who raise the dead, make me, even me, a gardener!

and this guy in a white truck landed on our driveway from Outer Space, and offered me this incredible deal… and a series of bizarre incidents begun to unroll in my life.

But today, something unbelievable, if I dare say, miraculous, unfolds before my eyes.  For in the small vegetable plot, where not long ago we had a burial ceremony for a bunch of cucumber, squash, cilantro and basil seeds, I am greeted with even rows of tender baby-gecko green. 

Suddenly I am at a loss as to whether I should laugh or cry.  For all my life, I've watched life killed, mutilated and destroyed. But, in this moment, with my own eyes, I can see life - vibrant green life - springing out of death.