My friend Rick and I walked through the rose garden at Fernbank this morning. It's a splendid rose garden, impeccably maintained. This time of year, the roses have recovered from the summer heat and are in full fragrance.
Early morning, in the company of roses, calls to mind an old gospel tune ... "I come to the garden alone, while the dew is still on the roses...He walks the me and He talks with me, and He tells me I am His own..." The lyrics speak of someone's very personal relationship with God -- a relationship that is not bounded by dogma or leveraged for political gain.
I believe in the separation of church and state.... in the broader sense. That is, a relationship with God that is housed in the temple of one's inner being - and one's actions in the world are the light that shines through the temple windows. I believe in a quiet, intensely personal spiritual life. Does that make me old-fashioned, or just odd?
