MONDAY, July 20 (Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Amelia Bloomer, Sojourner Truth, and Harriet Tubman)

Almost twenty years ago, I moved away from my hometown, a fertile place where my love of nature was born. There I knew every plant and insect, when to plant and water. Gardening was fairly easy.

My move came in the winter, so it was months before anything green emerged in my new surroundings. I marveled at the new shapes bursting through crumbled soil and the unfamiliar creatures exploring the fresh life of springtime. I kept a set of small identification books nearby to learn about this new place.

The biggest surprise came when I set plants for the first time. Heretofore I had merely dug a hole, put in a seed or plant, filled in with the soil from the dig, and watered. My new area, I soon learned, has poorer soil, so gardening is harder. Through years of study, I now know to build beds above ground, add a sandier topsoil, and amend with compost to have a healthy, long-lasting garden.

So it is with my spiritual garden. I check the Book, do lots of studying for deeper understanding, and then root myself on the path that leads closer to God's presence.

PRAY for the Diocese of Brisbane (Queensland, Australia)