Caring for Our Own - Merlin's Garden

: Merlin caring for Bond

Show me your garden and I shall tell you what you are.
– Alfred Austin, 1835-1913

One of the things that strikes me about Merlin, aside from his demanding wild ways, is his kindness. At certain points of the day, we see him sleeping, cuddling actually, with one of our other two bassets, Rocky and Bond (yes, there is another basset). Washing their eyes is something he also does daily and meticulously. Rocky and Bond embrace readily this latter gift as they lean their face towards their younger brother. I feel a sense of awe as I watch the exchange. There is something very loving in the action.

How we care for others can speak volumes to who we are. I am not talking about obligatory duty, the kind ridden by guilt. I am talking of duty without such burden, the duty that knows almost instinctively that life not caring for others is no life at all. Afterall if we don’t partake of our need to nurture, we can never fully know what it is to be nurtured ourselves.

How we care for our garden can similarly say as much. Sometimes I see a plant as an object, something to take for granted. It is not an intentional thing, it just seems to happen when I am too busy to consider otherwise. But when a landscape becomes a living thing to be fed, watered, pruned — treasured really — I not only move around it more respectfully and kindly, I come to see what it gives back. Food is one example; beauty and variety another; purpose and fulfillment as well.

The garden is a mirror, if you will, of what may be happening to me in any given moment. One day, it is color, abundance, creativity. Another day, a nuisance and lots of work. What Merlin teaches me when I watch him care for other creatures is that nurturing in itself can be a single act of salvation and a gift to receive. It is a wondrous matter to consider.

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