Listen "The Gift of the Garden"
Episode Synopsis
In her poem 'God's Garden', Dorothy Frances Gurney writes:'One is nearer God’s heart in a garden
Than anywhere else on earth.’Join Giles Fraser and a panel of green-fingered guests as they gather together at the Aga Khan Centre in Kings Cross to reflect on the theological significance of gardens and gardening.From Eden and Gethsemane, to the ancient Islamic gardens of Andalusia, to the Japanese Gardens of Zen Buddhism; temples to churchyards, these sacred zones have been places of solace and reflection for millennia; places of life and death, of peace and tranquillity.
Here, even non-religious gardeners find common ground with their religious counterparts: on their knees, often in silence, hands in the earth. For many, gardening is the answer. We hear from Jill Smith - lay minister and trustee of 'The Quiet Garden Movement', who tells us how her garden is a place of healing.Our panellists are Dr Omar Ali de Unzaga - Head of Ismaili Studies at the Aga Khan Centre, Revd Lucy Winkett - Rector at St James' Church in Piccadilly, and Ai Hishii - Director of Japanese garden architects, Momiji Design.*You can visit the Islamic Gardens at the Aga Khan Centre for free - book online.Presenter: Giles Fraser
Producers: James Leesley and Bara'atu Ibrahim
Editor: Tim Pemberton
Than anywhere else on earth.’Join Giles Fraser and a panel of green-fingered guests as they gather together at the Aga Khan Centre in Kings Cross to reflect on the theological significance of gardens and gardening.From Eden and Gethsemane, to the ancient Islamic gardens of Andalusia, to the Japanese Gardens of Zen Buddhism; temples to churchyards, these sacred zones have been places of solace and reflection for millennia; places of life and death, of peace and tranquillity.
Here, even non-religious gardeners find common ground with their religious counterparts: on their knees, often in silence, hands in the earth. For many, gardening is the answer. We hear from Jill Smith - lay minister and trustee of 'The Quiet Garden Movement', who tells us how her garden is a place of healing.Our panellists are Dr Omar Ali de Unzaga - Head of Ismaili Studies at the Aga Khan Centre, Revd Lucy Winkett - Rector at St James' Church in Piccadilly, and Ai Hishii - Director of Japanese garden architects, Momiji Design.*You can visit the Islamic Gardens at the Aga Khan Centre for free - book online.Presenter: Giles Fraser
Producers: James Leesley and Bara'atu Ibrahim
Editor: Tim Pemberton
More episodes of the podcast Beyond Belief
Consciousness
21/10/2025
Prison Conversions
21/10/2025
Faith versus Fear
23/09/2025
Cultural Religiosity
22/04/2025
Claiming Christianity
15/04/2025
Faithful Food
08/04/2025
Mixed Blessings
01/04/2025
Pharisees: a byword for hypocrisy?
14/01/2025
Divine Comedy
07/01/2025
The Religion of Detection
31/12/2024