John Updike was one of major novelists of the 20th century and a poet. I recently came across a poem where he lamented how future generations will likely not experience the meaning and pleasure of hoeing the ground to prepare it for new growth.
Updike wrote,
“there is no knowing
how many souls have been formed by this simple exercise.
The dry earth like a great scab breaks, revealing
moist-dark loam—the pea-roots home,
a fertile wound perpetually healing.”
I was struck by the idea that the ground is perpetually healing beneath our feet and beyond our immediate sight. It reminded me how our bodies do the same, perpetually healing beyond our immediate sight as wounds and bruises heal beneath the skin.
In our lives there is always something that is healing – physically, spiritually, emotionally. It is encouraging to think that all around us life is, in fact, perpetually healing.
On Emotions 