A Dump, A Garden, And One's Worth
Growing An Interior Life
by
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Introduction
Fear grows in darkness; if you think there there’s a bogeyman around, turn on the light.
- Dorothy Thompson
For each of us, life begins in a garden, in a womb, in the
In moments of desolation and consolation, like a roller-coaster-ride through life’s brief trek, John’s Gospel tells of Jesus exiting the upper room to commence his passion and death: “When Jesus had said this, he went out with his disciples across the
Every pilgrim has his or her story to tell. It is a tale of sorrow and joy, of desolation and consolation. However long the years on earth, one’s garden grows and glows and suffers in the space and earth where one is planted.
“Now in the place where he had been crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had yet been buried. So they placed Jesus there...” (Jn 19:41-42) Life begins in a garden, or in a place that looks like or becomes a dump that needs some work.
All of the human emotions of mad, sad, glad or scared, or some version of these abound in the Psalms of the bible. In no other place have I felt feelings like those in the Psalms. Except for places in my own pilgrimages in life: In El Salvador, in Jamaica’s dumps, in my own growing years on Detroit’s east side, at the death of my oldest brother Lucas in Vietnam in 1968, and in my encounter of men and women who steered a way and seemed to help me navigate my way in through the mysteries of life’s garden and its tosses, turns, tragedies and triumphs. The evergreen virtue of hope looms large in the lives of the likes and examples of Edward Popielarz, William Cunnigham, Eleanor Josaitis, Nelson Mandela and many more.
Out of the ashes of
Here is a true tale of a dump that grew where I live, where cans and bottles and debris filled that space for years. The dump was a convenient place for junk to be piled by passers-by. It turned and morphed, nevertheless, when someone decided to make a garden of that unsightly place. Hope bloomed, while flowers blossomed.
Cozy up in your favorite easy chair and ride with me on life’s road, its dumps, its gardens, and, its recreated and restored dignity and worth.
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About the Book
Once again, Father Lawrence Ventline inspires us with his imaginative, creative writing. He finds such beautiful ways of describing the so-called ordinary...the "official dump."
JoAnn Loria
Spiritual Director and Pastoral Associate
Green is frequently found in Scriptures, but seldom refers strictly to color. Green brings to mind the freshness and vigor of growing vegetation. It denotes a healthy and prosperous condition of things. One could hardly disagree with the author's challenge to live in the manner in which Christians of new birth and hope should conduct themselves in order to maintain the wellness of their families, community, country and world.
Mr. and Mrs. Dewey Totty
Transfiguration Parish
About the Author
A
Growing up, he enjoyed gardening, sports, writing and cooking with classmates at
A Board Certified Professional Counselor, he was trained in the art of spiritual direction with the Mercy Sisters in
In
Founder of Cura Animarum / Care of the Soul Counseling, and, The All Faiths Festival (AFF), (www.interfaithwork.com) he organized the ecumenical Michigan Coalition for Human Rights with Episcopal Bishop H. Coleman McGehee, Jr., a former assistant attorney general of
A prolific writer for The Detroit News, he currently writes for The Daily Oakland Press, including a blog. He also writes book reviews for Saint Anthony mesenger magazine. Father Ventline edited the notes of the late Edward D. Popielarz, his boyhood pastor, who founded a class in acceptance. Faithful leaders and Ventline lead the growth group in metropolitan
Among this author's books are A Tale So True of My Christmas Tree: Everything Belongs; Story Hungry: Roots, Relationships and Reflections; Cries of the People: Ministry Matters, Mostly Personal; Guardian of Your Soul: A Class in Acceptance; and, Soul Stuff: A Class in Acceptance Workbook.
A much sought after speaker and retreat director, he has appeared on Public Television's, Interfaith Odyssey, an Emmy-Award-winning production of Dr. Lynne Boyle of the Metropolitan Christian Council, Detroit/Windsor (MCC D/W)
In 1996, he received the City of
An ordained pastor for thirty-four years, he is on special assignment for the Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit.
Human and spiritual development of one's interior life is crucial to vitality and wellness, the youngest of seven children with his twin sister Patti, believes.
To ignite each one's dignity and worth by awakening it in self and others is his personal motto for Cura Animarum / Care of the Soul Counseling inspired by Pope Gregory the Great's classic on pastoral care of the sick.
"We're most intimate with the Maker when we're ill," Ventline asserts. "He wants the people no one else wants," a long-time friends quips.