In February, I took a quick trip to San Francisco with my family. I was determined to go to Muir Woods this time around and see the Redwoods, a truly religious experience for me. Nature on such an impressive scale did not fail to inspire. With a bit of care and tending, the earth is capable of providing incredible gifts. I hope to ponder this thought as I return to the garden this spring.
Muir Woods also had incredible patches of lush clover interspersed among the trees, the greenest and largest clover I have ever seen. St. Patrick's Day and this clover got me thinking about luck. I am not sure how I feel about luck, but I do believe that by sending out "good" into the world, my very best effort in all things, overall good things will in measure return to me. I don't think this is a faith in an outside predetermined will. Rather, I rest on a deep and abiding sense of hope despite the many challenges life brings.
I believe Amy Tan, a favorite author of mine, explained it like this in the Joy Luck Club:
My mother believed in God’s will for many years. It was as if she had turned on a celestial faucet and goodness kept pouring out. She said it was faith that kept all these good things coming our way, only I thought she said “fate,” because she couldn’t pronounce that “th” sound in “faith.”And later, I discovered that maybe it was fate all along, that faith was just an illusion that somehow you’re in control. I found out the most I could have was hope, and with that I was not denying any possibility, good or bad. I was just saying, If there is a choice, dear God or whatever you are, here’s where the odds should be placed.
