Gary the Gardener

52 Stories in 52 Weeks: ## 16 Gary the Gardener

By: Mr. George D. Patnoe., Jr.'s Ambidextrous Brain + Mind.

Gary the Gardener had never stepped into a church all the days of his very, very long life, but he wonderfully worshiped all life, just as those who stepped into a wooden or stone church to truly worship God or to just pretend to worship God. Of course, Gary the Gardener knew that many people who entered a church to worship their personal sense of God, also worshiped life when they left a material church, but Gary also realized many church goers forgot about God and life as soon as they stepped outside the material church. Gary knew that so many church goers just do not worship life after they leave the church. "How could that be?’ Always wondered Gary. Then again, Gary also knew that earth carried on it surface so many billions of people who worshiped neither life, or God, nor even in the material church.

Once a week, the many church goers would step into their church for a single hour, as they could not wait to get out of the church to eat or drink or to piss or to watch tv or to watch a football game or to do a million other things besides worshiping the make believe god whom they did not care to worship in the first place. On the other hand, Gary would step into his garden almost every day, and he would sometimes stay in the garden for an hour or more, without ever thinking about anything else. He would not think about food, or water, or football games, or other people or about any of the other millions of things that other people wanted to do, especially on Sunday afternoon.

The church goers would sing songs out loud, while Gary would listen to the sound of life in his garden, and of the heavens, even to the bird’s tunes, even if those tunes were not pointed directly to God or even to Gary. The church goers would praise an make believe and unknown god, while Gary would praise life on earth. The church goers would look up towards the ceiling, while Gary would look up towards the sun and to the moon and to the stars. The church goers would dress in their prettiest Sunday church clothes, while Gary would dress up in some holey old clothes that would be dirty in no time at all; at least on some days. The church goers would bring their Bibles to church with them, while Gary would bring his Bible out to the garden. The church goers would sit in their fancy chairs, with their soft cushions, while Gary would usually sit on an old wooden chair, with a cup of warm coffee. The church goers would listen to a preacher rambling off words while Gary would listen to the invisible heavens for signs and for spiritual inspiration.

Signs of spiritual inspiration from the invisible heavens, from the invisible universe which some physical scientists guess is the 90% dark matter, but which Gary called the angels airless domain. While some physical scientists saw a possible matter of darkness, and others saw as the difference between heaven and hell, Gary saw the possibility of lightness. Understand dear readers, Gary was not just a gardener of the ground; he was also a gardener of the mind. Gary had leaned so many years ago, that a person needs both the physical food for the human stomach, while they also need the spiritual food for the mind. It was one thing to plant seeds in the ground, knowing that they would sprout up to be plants, or flowers, or watermelons, or corn, or some natural nectar for the hummingbird and butterflies, but it was another thing to plant the spiritual seeds into the minds of human beings so they would grow up to be spiritual creatures instead of limited physical bodies.

Gary’s garden possessed flowers from around the world, some millions of years old.. (not the flowers, the flower species) Along with the roses from around the world, there were sky blue Morning Glories, and yellow and red Strawflowers, and the white and yellow butterfly Orchid Beauty and the pinkish red Cockscomb, and the sleepy Hollow Flowers, and the babylon red Gahli, and far west Gladiolus, and the assorted colored hybrid Zantedeschia, and the el desperado Hemerocallis flower. Just to name a few!

One day, in Gary’s old age, he went for a Sunday morning walk, away from his rather large and complex garden. He sometimes walk on Sunday, as a true gentleman would walk. But when he did walk on Sunday, Gary would dress in the proper attire of a nice dark pinstripe or solid dark suit, with a nice tie, usually a tie with some sort of angel pattern on the tie. Gary had learned long ago not to be afraid of walking into a restaurant with an angel tie, although he knew that many people would never ever dream of walking anywhere with an angel pattern on their tie, shirt, or even as a picture in their wallet. Anyway, on this one Sunday, Gary was really hungry, so Gary went for a walk to eat a big meal of eggs, and bacon, and orange juice, and french coffee, and the just for the fun of it, if there was any room in his stomach, cake and ice cream. When Gary began his Sunday morning walk, he took a different route to a different restaurant. He thought to himself, "Lets walk through the local park, so I can enjoy the park’s flower garden, and it trees, and its whispers of heavenly delights; maybe a vibe, or message, or just the colors of naturals gifted wonderments.

As he walked through the park’s garden, with its tall and old redwood trees, he noticed the little church building that was located off a stone path, away from the view of most walkers. The building was painted a redwood color, with dark colored wooden beams which held up the building’s walls and roof. The building’s color was so like the natural color of the huge redwood trees, that the church blended in with the natural color of the forest. If Gary did not know better, he almost thought that the building was invisible, because he had never seen it before. ‘How strange.’ thought Gary, as his eyes was seemingly forced to look towards the ground next to the building.

As he walked towards the strange looking flowers that radiated some sort of invisible energy that Gary had never felt or seen before now. The flower’s peddles color looked yellowish-golden, almost like a statue brass shiny flower, only these gold-yellowish peddles seemed to be glowing with a rare colored light. ‘Are those some sort of special flowers?’ wondered Gary. As he walked towards the flowers, he could feel the intensity of the energy grow with every step. Gary knew something about the energy of plants and flowers and of all living cells. It was an energy that some humans called physical, but which Gary knew to be a reflection of the inner essence of each living creature, and sometimes it was a reflection of the Grand Divine Creator of all soulful creatures. As Gary lowered his body down to touch the seemingly magical flowers, the church door opened and a lady who wore a red dress stepped out onto the church’s step. ‘Good morning, dear sir. We have been waiting for you.’

Gary would not let the moment go, as he touched the flowers, to feel their life energy, to sense and to feel the glow within living creatures on planet earth; living creatures who depend on the sun as Gary depended on his own divine oneness with the divine Creator of the universe, including life on planet earth. Just as the sun seems to be far away from the earth and all of the earth’s life, including the flowers and plants, the sun’s invisible rays gives all plants and flowers their needed warmth from the sun. So too, Gary knew that the light of God filled all space, throughout all time, only not in the form of some wishful thinking of some material essence, but as of the aura of an all powerful intelligence called Mind and Love.

‘Waiting for me?’ questioned Gary as he gave her a strange glare of doubt. ‘Are not you Gary the Gardener?’ Asked the lady in the red dress. ‘Yes, I am.’ answered Gary. ‘We have been waiting for you to walk this way.’ Said the lady. ‘Why? answered Gary, as he stood up to shake the ladies hand. As he reached out to grab hold of her reached out hand, he began to feel her energetic aura, only it felt like the aura of the golden plant he had just touched. She answered, ‘Because we have heard about your love for flowers and all plants, and how you see and feel the life energy which flows from all plants and flowers. We also know how you can see the universal divine essence as you sit outside in your garden. Not every person appreciates earth’s special unhuman life forms. As you know Gary, plants have been around for millions of years, so they have a history all their own. Plus, without flowers, the insects, bees, hummingbirds, and other nectar eaters would not exist. But you already know that. Don’t you?’

Gary noticed the thick silver locks on the solid steel doors. ‘Why are there locks on the doors of the church? asked Gary. The patient silver haired lady said, ‘Not everyone is invited to our church. Come on in. Take a look at our church, will you? I think that you will like this church of ours.’ Gary stepped forward as he stated, ‘Where did these golden flowers come from?’ The lady giggled a bit as she stated, ‘Gary, where do all flowers come from?’

As Gary stepped up, onto the strange churches steps, he smelled the sweetest aroma he had ever smelled before in his life. He stopped short of the door as his nose and brain could only handle the powerfully sweet aroma for just so long. ‘Wow!’ stated Gary. The lady turned around and responded, ‘That is the flowers way of saying hi to you Gary. They know a real flower lover and plant lover from the people who do not love the simple, yet beautiful creatures of planet earth. You will get used to the smell, but the flowers might simply relax now that they know you have arrived.’ Gary face changed a shade of color as he asked, ‘The flowers were expecting me?’

She waved Gary into the strange church. As they walked into the church, the lady’s dress changed from a red to a pure white, but almost invisible white; and her skin seemed to disappear too. Gary rubbed his eyes. Gary looked down onto his hands because his own skin’s color seemed to be changing too. As a matter of fact, Gary’s mind began to become a bit dizzy and fuzzy, almost as if he had been drugged by the flower’s airy sweetness. But he remained silent as the confusion in his mind caused him to wonder more and more if this was just a night dream. But he just knew that he was awake when he started his normal day, which of course he knew by now was not normal at all, unless we are talking about supernatural day. ‘Is she an angel?’ thought Gary. His eyes became mesmerized by the church’s interior design and decorations.

A church filled with the prettiest of flowers which seemed so pretty, that they seemed to belong to another world, another dimension. Gary looked around the church and it seemed so much bigger on the inside than on the outside. "Is the space inside this church an illusion or mirage? thought Gary. "No it is not?’ answered the lady. Gary’s head turned towards the lady and said, "How did you know what I was thinking?" The seemingly changing lady glowed a smile to Gary, "The same way that you know how all of those plants and flowers in your garden are feeling." Gary began to bite his tongue because he had not known a person like this, nor the flowers in this special church. Gary the earthly gardener looked around to feel this flowers and plants and they almost seemed more alive than he, he thought to himself.

Gary looked at all of the flower’s colors, and all of those mixture of colors; the shiny blues, and bright yellows, and the dull reds, and the greens leaves, and the pink and whites, and those flowers that looked as if they had eyes starring back at Gary. ‘Are those spots or eyes?’ thought Gary as he looked straight into a group of pink flowers with small rounded dark round spots with a tiny holes in the middle of the small round spots. ‘Are they eyes?’ thought Gary, as he started to laugh out loud. Within the smallest fraction of an instant, Gary felt a vibration on his skin. ‘Wow, what was that?’

The lady who seemed to floating away into a distant row of flowers said, "Gary, they are trying to communicate with you, just as your earthly garden flowers communicate with you. Only these flowers are somewhat different from your everyday garden flowers.’ As Gary began to settle down to his inner state of mind, to his natural garden state of mind, he started to remember his home garden and how he would become so still and silent within his own consciousness, as he would remember the psalm that read, "Seldom is there a soul still enough to hear God speak." Gary started to realize that he should not be surprised that these special flowers could feel the thoughts and feelings of himself, nor should he treat them with the disrespect that a normal human might treat plants outside of this seemingly magical church.

Gary stated to get a mental handle on his state of mind as he began to treat these flowers with love and kindness, with a regard for their living intelligence, even if that intelligence was different than the human intelligence, or of the machine intelligence, or of a cosmic intelligence, or of an Almighty God Intelligence which was said to be the guiding intelligence of all life, everywhere, on all levels. As Gary touched a bright blue flowers, he started to see the blue sky that cover planet earth. ‘Strange.’ thought Gary, ‘Are the flowers playing a mental mind game with me?’ So he touched a red flower and he started to mentally see the red blood of dying men during a war which he had been a solider. Gary had remembered many friends dying in his arms during the war, which only caused Gary to look up to the clear blue sky and wonder about life and death. He started to remember how he could feel their souls leaving their bodies as he heard the bullets flying past him and the bombs were dropping from the noisy planes. The only painful memories in Gary’s mind.

Gary then touched a yellow flower and he remembered the sun, as he began to feel the sun’s warmth after one of those war battles had ended. He remembered lying on the damp beach as he saw the sun move across the sky, as the earth’s dirt was soaked in the red blood of dying men. ‘Is this some sort of mind trick? wondered Gary. Then he saw his home garden with the sun’s rays warming up his flowers. ‘I wonder what time it is? he thought. I should be getting back home soon. He looked around and he saw a golden leaf flower. He walked over to the golden flower and he touched it. Golden statues sprang up within his mind. Naked people who believed that the their skin and bones and blood bodies were on earth, only to be worshiped. It seemed to Gary that some people cared not at all about life on earth, nor life in the heavens, nor life in their dreams, nor life in others universes. Some people believed that their skin and bones were life, but Gary knew that was one of the biggest lies that men and ladies believed in, until they awoke from their earthly dreamy limitations to higher conceptions of life. From Adam to Jesus, thought Gary.

‘Not so soon.’ he could hear her say. ‘You can not go home yet. You have more to see.’ the lady stated as if an echo was calling out from another room. ‘She must be busy tending to her plants and flowers.’ though Gary. As Gary walked over to the center of the special church, he saw a huge tree that seemed to have puck ed its way straight through the roof of the church’s ceiling. But as he looked up towards the ceiling, he realized that there was no ceiling, just the sun’s rays flowing into the church. ‘Funny. I do not remember a tree poking its way through the roof when I walked up to the church. What is going on here?’ thought Gary.

No sooner had he asked the question that the lady voice echoed its way into Gary’s ear, though Gary began to realize that he was not really conscious of his ears any more, nor of the earthly and physical sound waves in this land of flowery paradise. ‘Gary, you have been on earth for so long, as you helped those flowers and plants grow in your backyard and in your huge and beautiful garden, that you have cared more about life than material things, that we thought that we should reward you with a special day, at a special garden here in your heavenly state of mind. And not only to care for the flowers and plants, but to communicate with them too. You have learned a great metaphysical fact, Gary. That life and intelligence is so much bigger and grander than all of human knowledge could testify to.’

Gary could hear an invisible humming from the air, from the plants and flowers. He sat down on a seemingly soft rock, next to a strange watery pond and he wondered what all of that meant. ‘Heavenly state of mind.’ I am just an old man, nearly one hundred years old. The only heavenly state of mind that I could wish for would be if I died and went to better garden with flowers and plants who could communicate with me even better than my earthly flowers.’ Gary heard some popping and clapping, even as he could see not a singly human bodily form in the church of flowers and plants and trees. He looked at the stillness of the pond’s surface and he became calmer still. Then, for some reason, he looked at his reflection on top of the water.

Gary did a double take as he stared into the water. ‘For what a man may wish, so shall he become.’ Gary starred into the water as he saw his face transform from that of a tired face of an old man to a cleaned and clearer face with no more tears of humanly cares and woes, or memories. His inward heart began to change too. He felt funny, lighter, even clearer. His memory was dimming faster and faster as he realized what was happening to him. His skin and bones were dying as they were being transformed into some kind of new stuff. While old things passes away, he was becoming a new creature, while his spiritual soul seemed to be the same forever more.

‘Gary, we need someone to take care of these special flowers and plants in this realm before we guide them down to earth, if that ever happens. We hope that one day, all earthlings will begin to see flowers and plants and trees with the meta-state of mind that you learned to develop a long time ago. Gary, you are being rewarded your place in your own heavenly state of mind because you were kind to all living creatures and you killed not for the sake of killing. But it is not only your state of mind, Gary. It is a state of mind that anyone can develop, even while they are on earth. To see and hear the flowers and plants and trees as they are in the higher dimension of meta-life, not as they are normally seen as dumb sticks and leaves to be misused and destroyed, with no rhyme or reason.’

Gary realized that he was no more breathing oxygen, that he no longer felt a heartbeat, that he no longer felt pain, nor that he needed to eat or drink. As he heard a sound from the distance, he again saw the lady and she looked brighter than before. Though she no longer possessed the human form, just the same voice. ‘So Gary, what do you think of your new life?’ ‘I am not going back to earth am I? he asked. ‘No Gary, you are not. To the world, you are now dead, but do not let that bother you much, because while you wanted to live life and preserve life on earth, most people just wanted to kill to eat; as sad as that is, Gary. So what do you think about your dreamy but new life?’

As Gary realized what had happen, even the flowers and plants started to change their appearance to a pure individual realms of glowing energy, and then they would revert back to the seemingly earthly forms of leaves and buds and stems, etc. As Gary quickly accepted his new state of affairs, he noticed other human forms arriving to greet him. Some of those forms looked more human than energy, while other forms stayed in their pure energetic states. He recognized a few forms of a few loved ones and also of some of his old garden friends, whom he had known long ago, on earth that is. ‘Hi Gary, welcome to the new garden show. What do you think of these shiny purple flowers over here?’ As naturally as the sun ‘sets’ everyday, so did Gary naturally walk ( or float ) over to his old garden friends and he started to learn about his new world, with its new flowers and plants and trees.

He heard a sharp whistle. He turned around to see the lady waving good bye as she walked (or floated) off into the distant realm of light. ‘Have fun and learn all you can, Gary. Learning about life never stops, even here!

** The Secret Life of Plants ** by: Peter Tompkins and Christopher Bird