The article in the following link was published in the latest Natural Awakenings magazine.  It’s a free magazine that is usually found in our local health food store.  Dennis Merritt Jones is the author and he calls his article “Mind Gardening.”

http://www.naturalawakeningsmag.com/Natural-Awakenings/March-2015/Mind-Gardening/

The allegory in this article is so appropriate for a lovely spring day!  What do we find growing in our minds?  What do we allow to take root in there?  Sometimes I find my mind wandering off and pretty soon it’s off on some tangent, ruminating on some topic that had nothing to do with the first thing it was thinking about.  If I go back and trace its path, I find that what led me astray was a thought of complaining or of resentment or even anger.  Do I enjoy continuing down that black path of resentment and fault finding?  If I do, pretty soon the thoughts coming out of my mind will grow darker and darker.  They are like ugly, tangled weeds crowding out the sun.

But I have a choice.  We all have a choice.  No one forces my mind to follow any train of thought.  It is the one place where I have true liberty.  From my God given free will, I can choose to pull out those ugly thought weeds and plant beauty.  God’s paradise is a beautiful place.  If I keep my mind on God, His kingdom and positive ideas about life here on earth, my thoughts can be a colorful garden that is filled with a stunning variety of blooms.  If my thought garden is full of sunlight and a colorful array of flowers, it will always be at the ready to help anyone in need.  It’s all up to me.

The Kingdom of God is within.  It is in our minds and hearts.  We can create His kingdom right here on earth by sowing beautiful seeds in our minds.  So, the next time you’re driving down the road and finding that your thoughts have begun to flow into a sea of self pity or complaining or anger, pluck those ugly weeds out.  Plant in their place a seed of love and gratitude!