"Where you tend a rose...a thistle cannot grow."

I love this quote from the classic, The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett (which you can get for free as a Kindle Book. I love the Kindle free library!):

"Where you tend a rose...a thistle cannot grow."

It neatly sums up the entire premise of her book which is the importance of our thoughts and what we chose to cultivate within. I'm reminded of a quote in my Kindle ebook, Child of God: The Humble Beginnings of Joan of Arc. Joan's town of Domremy had recently been attacked by the English. A battle waged within her as she witnessed the cruelty of man and found herself at a critical juncture of decision--how would she respond? Archangel Micheal visits her and upon seeing her struggle gently inquires:

"Where do you permit your mind and heart to take you? Do you allow the vice of discouragement to wind its way inward, or do you allow the Voice of guidance to provide sweet consolation? Do you listen to language of sad earth, or language of hope?"

Interestingly, when I wrote the above passage years ago, it was taken directly from a private journal entry, and the question had been posed to me. I, too, had been at a critical point in my life and was reminded of the importance of cultivating consolation, compassion and goodness--the rose.

If goodness is within, there is no room for its opposite--where you tend a rose...a thistle cannot grow. On this snowy afternoon, may the peaceful blessings falling from the sky here in Tahoe find their way to you and cover the inner garden you're tending with a blanket of inspiration.