Paradise (January)

Paradise is Old Persian for Garden. Or Enclosure. Hence the Garden of Eden evolves from Babylonian captivity, after Israel encountered gardens. We have walked into paradises all our lives, snowbound Austrian January gardens, shaded Australian January gardens. We know it’s temporary, all we’ve got. The atmosphere, spherical for good reason, encloses the one paradise we will ever know in this world. Hence Gethsemane, the Garden where we try to stay awake and pray. It is our world, the enclosure of our mortal delight and dread. Wherever we travel around we’re here, shared and sharing, poorly prepared for betrayal and loss.