The Cross Gardener

I have finished a good read- The Cross Gardener by Jason F Wright. Got it at Harris GWC closing down sale at a discount of 20%. wheee

Quoted from Amazon.com

"From the New York Times bestselling author, an inspiring story of life, love, and moving on.
Married and the father of a young daughter, John Bevan had finally found the traditional family he lacked as an orphaned child. But all that disappears when a fatal car accident steals away his wife-and the unborn child she carried.

Filled with sorrow, John withdraws from life and love. He erects a small cross at the scene of his wife's accident and visits daily, grieving. Then one morning he encounters a young man kneeling before the cross, touching it up with white paint. John's conversations and travels with this mysterious man-known to him only as the Cross Gardener-will forever change his world."

This is a slightly spiritual book which talks about our maker and how we are never alone even in our darkest hours. We were never meant to grieve alone in our losses. Death means going home to God and each incident in life is all part of God's grander plans. And in death, there will be someone at the end of the tunnel to bring you home. This book reminded me of a Christian book which my friend lent me. I stopped reading after chapter 5 of that book as i have too many question marks. I am not sure how are sudden losses of innocent lives or notorious crimes part of God's bigger plans. Take for eg, if a young girl was raped and became pregnant. How is that part of God's bigger plans? and if the victim decides to abort the foetus, is that also part of God's plans? If it is, should we not be discouraging abortion? Maybe someone can enlighten me?

I think Karma, cause and consequences make more sense to me. So you can probably see I am not a v spiritual person and I do not feel much about the spiritual aspect of this book. Still it gives me a peaceful feeling reading this novel with a twisted ending. It is also comforting to think that there will be someone with you at the end of your journey.

I think the more important message of this book is to treasure what you have in your life, instead of mopping over your losses. In the book, John lost his wife and son but still had his daughter. When he was grieving for his wife and son, he visited the death site everyday and neglected his beloved apple orchard and young daughter. As a result, harvest at the apple orchard was bad and he could not help his daughter who was also grieving over the loss of her mum and blaming herself for the accident. The daughter became withdrawn and stopped talking. It was only under the guidance and care of her grandparents that she started talking again. Her grandparents were also hurting over the loss of their only child but they dealt with the loss positively. The mourned but they remained focused on helping the son-in-law and granddaughter out of this rough patch.

I think this is an important lesson to remember when the going gets tough -

“When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.”