The truth doesn't set you free without cost ...
When you believe a lie for too long the truth doesn't set you free without cost, the truth tears you apart. I've come to understand that what we believe shapes who we are. Belief can bring us salvation or destruction. Once you have believed a lie for too long, separation from what you falsely believed was safe and comfortable has the power to break you in mind, in body, and in Spirit. This is where I ask you, "Are you sure that what you believe is the truth?"
My Story Begins...
Turnip and mustard greens, hot peppers, squash, tomatoes, and cucumbers are in my memory.
I would sit for hours watching my grandfather work his vegetable garden and tend his roses. The different hues and kinds of roses calmed me; gave me what I needed. The red velvet textures, the satin ivory whites, and my favorite summer yellow roses reminded me to just breathe. There were times my body struggled to breathe.
I would sit calm and still on the concrete patio as often as I could, watching my grandfather cultivate the soil and experiencing the rose blooms moving with the wind.
The sweet movement of wind and roses relaxed me into a trance so deep, that I was oblivious of the sound of my grandfather breaking and turning over the dirt.
So relaxed, that I blocked out the sounds the garden tools made as I watched him create the garden rows. I journeyed into another world without moving from my spot on the concrete patio. I journeyed in Spirit, worlds-within-worlds. All I could hear was me breathing in and out.
I breathed life with every delicate move the roses made against the wind and with every roll of sweat that dripped down my grandfather's darkened skin. Without knowing it, I received an unspoken lesson on how you protect the valuable works of God. The way he took loving care in planting his tomato and cucumber seeds was my lesson of Grace.
Grace overflowed my soul...
I watched him for years cultivate and care for his vegetable and flower gardens. I saw him nurture three pear trees, a fig tree, a strawberry patch, and a few pecan trees. He showed great respect and empathy for the pecan trees the year they were sick. He nursed them round the clock and saved two of them.
Just as he cared and nurtured his tomato and cucumber garden and the sick pecan trees, I believed I too was valuable in my grandfather's eyes, why wouldn't I be? However, I believed a lie for too long and it cost me. Remember, the truth never sets you free without cost and I paid a premium price to be set free.
Grace introduced herself to me in the garden and she became my dearest friend. She overflowed my heart with whatever it needed at the time. She soothed my mind into a trance of sweet communion. Where would I be without my dearest friend?
My grandfather's garden was his heart. It was what he held most dear. I will always, always, always remember how he loved his garden, and how much his garden loved him. As with most black families at the time, he grew fruits and vegetables. He fed his family and shared his crops with the community. If you met my grandfather or knew him, then you know that he was a difficult man. He was stoically demanding and hellishly rude, however, he belonged to us and was dearly loved. His passing is still bitter-sweet.
I am in utter astonishment at how he nurtured the life of each individual fruit, flower, & vegetable in his garden. Each child fantasized and believed that we were members of his garden. However, we believed a lie for too long and it cost us. All of us. I ask you again, "Are you sure that what you believe is the truth?" The truth doesn't set you free without cost, the truth tears you apart … and so it is …
Covid-19 took my grandfather and then my mother (his oldest), three weeks later. I know that you and mama are doing fine. May the Lord watch between me and thee while we are absent one from another. May we all say … Amen.
I am Lisa Henry Harper … the country mouse from Jafrica. These. are my human stories. May water find and free you. The hardest story to tell is your own.
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This post was inspired by the cyberpunk science fiction series, Altered Carbon. Science fiction is a fortune teller of futuristic technology.
"I believed a lie for too long." - Takeshi Kovacs (Fiction Character)
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