HOW DREAMS COME TRUE

Let me share with you an experience how dreams came true for me. Maybe you too will become aware and "see" in what most wonderful manner the invisible and visible realms are working together to realize our dreams, just waiting for our recognition.

All my life I lived in a house with a garden. I loved to pay close attention to the changing of the seasons. Never did I get tired of watching the play of light and shadow between the large trees and listening to the rustling of the leaves in the wind. Each morning I awoke to the song of the birds in the trees and it filled me with awe and joy. I felt a deep sense of connecting with Mother Earth when my hands worked the ground and I smelled the roses. And every year when Spring came I would sense anew the deep wonder of the sweet mystery of life.

But how much I would miss a garden became obvious when I moved downtown into one of those old large buildings with many apartments. Some of them own a small balcony, like my own, but these are mostly not spacious enough to even sit on.

However, to make the best out of my new place, I used to point out to myself that this was a good opportunity to experience a different kind of living like many people do, who have never owned a garden. At least one will never feel lonely, I thought, as you can hear people around you day and night. "Wouldn't this way of living provide a great opportunity practising tolerance and good will to all and refraining from any judgment?", I pondered.

In time I came to enjoy the view of the different roofs, noticing the large variety of chimneys and the way the sunshine played on the brick-walls of the tall buildings. But now and then it happened that I remembered my different gardens and I thought how much I missed them. And then I felt as if there was a pain in my heart that did not want to go away.

Across the street there is another apartment building. Only one apartment in this other building has a terrace with a small area for a garden. A few dried-out bushes and plants were there — actually a sad sight. Every time I looked at the dried-out bushes, I was inclined to go over and propose to build a little garden. In my mind I drew an elaborate picture of my dream garden and imagined how I would love to be in it. But at the end of my dreaming I used to tell myself that there are enough beautiful public gardens in this city which I could always visit. I didn't need to own my own garden to enjoy and love nature.

So time passed. Spring came and the misery of the dried up plants on this terrace opposite my windows looked always the same. Then one day, all of a sudden a man appeared and worked on the terrace, digging and labouring hard all day long for almost a week. I wondered what took him so long, as the terrace is not large. Obviously he had heard my heartfelt pleas to do something with this terrace. "What would be the result of his work?", I wondered.

For quite some time I couldn't see much difference, although the dead bushes were gone and all appeared quite empty and tidy now. At least one thing comforted me: obviously he hadn't put concrete all over the terrace. Then I went on a journey for a couple of weeks. When I came back and looked through my windows out on the neighbour terrace I caught sight of fresh greenery everywhere. What a joy to see something growing and coming alive between all these walls!

Again time passed, I went away on another trip and came back late one night. Next morning, I couldn't believe my eyes. What do you think had happened? Through my window I saw on the neighbour's terrace the most wonderful natural garden anyone could imagine. It was spread out right before my eyes like on a platter, as if for me to have the best of all views of it and to be able to fully adore and praise it. It was exactly the kind of garden I had dreamt of. Everything was in full bloom. A large variety of different shapes of evergreens, perennials and herbs caught the eyes. All kinds of multicoloured wild flowers added an extra sparkle to it. In the center was the most wonderful pink flowering bush of a kind I had never seen before. Everything looked so healthy, fresh and colourful, that I can hardly find words to describe it. It was one of the prettiest little gardens I have ever seen.

Unfortunately, the owners of the terrace won't enjoy it much as they have no windows looking onto the garden, nor the people walking on the street or the other neighbors. I'm the only one, I thought — by the way my windows are facing the terrace — who gets all the benefits out of this garden. It is as if it was created just for me to enjoy.

The first thing I do now in the morning is to greet and open my heart to the sight of the flowering garden and when I'm in bed at night, I leave my shutters open, so that I'm able to see the garden from my bed; and the pink-flowering bush is right there before my eyes until I fall asleep.

I never saw anyone using the terrace until yesterday. Suddenly a man appeared and took much care to water the flowers and bushes. I waved my hands to catch his attention and called "Hello" over the street, until he looked at me. I told him, that his terrace with the flowering garden was such a joy to me and that I had always owned a garden myself and now missed it so much. I said: "The garden you have built looks exactly like the kind of garden I would have wished to have. I want to give thanks to you with all my heart for your good work".

The man was very surprised to hear me say this and seemed so pleased that he called his wife to come out. He told her what I had just said, and then he shouted across the street: "I'm a gardener, you know. When I built this garden I knew we ourselves would not get to see much of it but I thought, maybe it will bring joy to someone else!"

Dear Friends,

To tell this story how a dream came true and and how among walls and stones a rose would bloom has taken more space than I thought. Thank you for your attention and patience.

May the memory of this garden stay with you — and maybe it will bring joy to you also!