Gardens
The social media post grabbed my attention. After recalling a litany of bad events, including a dead car battery, a twisted ankle, and a sick child, the post read, “But I have so much to be thankful for!” Optimism can be a deceptive tactic, avoiding the world in front of you and making you blind to reality. Voltaire was keenly aware of such danger. Reacting to a series of 1755 disasters that included the Lisbon earthquake, a tsunami, and massive fires, theologians turned to optimism as an answer. Their motto, “All is for the best in this best of all possible worlds,” was meant to soothe communal heartache and fear. Voltaire openly rejected such blind optimism and lampooned the thought in Candide, proving that if this indeed is the best of all possible worlds, then it should be much better than it is.
Voltaire was aware of misfortune, heartache, and injustice. He was frequently exiled from Paris, ridiculed by contemporaries, and targeted by the Catholic Church. Voltaire’s troubles coupled with the onslaught of natural disasters and the Seven Years War made optimism futile. Although Voltaire rejected a sanguine attitude, he did not leave a vacuum for the abysmal. At the end of Candide, after an absurdity of misfortunes and catastrophes, Voltaire borrows from Jeremiah 29. Towards the end of Jeremiah, after the destruction caused by the Babylonian Exile, the prophet encourages the remnant of people to plant a garden. Following suit, Voltaire's characters plant a garden, committing to the caretaking of the land. With a simple act, Voltaire offers the reader a trait more substantial than optimism: Hope.
Jeremiah and Voltaire have been in my ear as of late. Like these writers, we are witnessing a torrent of losses, anxieties, and injustices. Women’s reproductive rights are being attacked, COVID-19’s Delta Variant is making many vaccinated people sick, federal benefits for those experiencing poverty are ending, the climate emergency is causing more severe natural disasters, and the global arena from Afghanistan to Canada is troubled. Individually and collectively, we are stressed! Amid this uncertainty, I keep hearing, “plant a garden.”
The Green Roof Garden, a project started in 2009 and being revived by several people in our community, is a prophetic gesture. A lot of land transforming a fallow patch into a sanctuary for flowers, trees, insects, animals, and humans is a moment of hope. It is a refuge, reminding its caretakers and inhabitants that all life can be renewed. It is a witness to a weary world. It is a bold statement that people dare to work for hope in what feels like a hopeless world. The Green Roof Garden proclaims that if we can make a difference in this small plot, we can move forward to a larger parcel of land and bolder ideas until Eden is a reality.
-Brian D. Crisp
