26.09.2025
Zion Rector’s Book Explores Gardening as Spiritual Practice
The Rector of Zion Parish in Rathgar, the Revd David White, is preparing for the launch of his new book in November. ‘The Gardened Soul: The Emotional Connection to More’ will be launched by Professor Catriona Russell of Trinity College Dublin and Roisin Alexander–Pye, Laudato Si’ Officer with Trocaire, in Zion Parish Church on Saturday November 8 at 11am.
The former gardener at the National Botanic Gardens and RHSI member encourages readers to see the garden as more than a piece of land to grow plants. This, he explains, “means that we open ourselves up to the possibility that we are being gardened and also being led to an experience of more”. He says this will be an invitation to something life–giving and transformative.
Gardens have always been places where people sought meaning. From Eden to Gethsemane, from Versailles to Kew, from Powerscourt to Altamont, something of these places resonated with people’s souls as they yearned to connect to more. Styles of gardens have changed down the millennia, as have the lifestyles of those who created and gardened them, but what has remained constant has been the human desire for wholeness, holiness, and connection.
David contends that as much as we have created and cultivated gardens, they have had their effects on us. In other words, our souls have been gardened. This book addresses how a receptive engagement with gardening as a spiritual practice can allow for the emergence of a sacred environment, where emotions can lead the soul deeper into the experience of more, particularly into the development of other embodied spiritual practices. The two specific emotions examined are love and sadness, which are explored as they grow into the embodied practices of gratitude and “everyday joy,” respectively. The emotional experiences in the garden incite wonder, excitement, and connection, nurturing the soul, and lead onward towards discerning what embodied spiritual practices may be needed for the journey ahead. Our souls are gardened.
David White is a Church of Ireland priest and spiritual director who began his love affair with gardening and spirituality when he sowed apple pips in a yoghurt pot on his windowsill. He trained and worked as a horticulturist at the National Botanic Gardens, Dublin, and has been awarded a BA (Hons) in Theology and English, MPhil in Ecumenical Studies, MTh in Theological Studies and MA in Applied Spirituality.
Music and refreshments will be available at the launch. No booking is required.