We often think we know a great deal about our friends but there is always something new to learn.  That is what keeps friendship so fresh and exciting.

Sometimes, however, we have to wait until someone has died to get a rounded picture of them and of no-one is that more true than of Chris Bard.  We knew he had his fingers in a lot of pies and at his funeral service, almost two years ago now, we heard about many of them.  So wide was his range of interests that we could be forgiven  for thinking that we knew so little about him.

A piece of the kaleidoscope that was Chris's life has been given a new shape in the publication of a book called Quiet Gardens - the Roots of Faith.  It  has been written by Chris's BBC colleague, Susan Bowden-Pickstock.  It should have been a book which was written jointly with Chris and it is dedicated to his memory.  Susan was accompanying Chris when he died at Dublin airport.  They were on their way to look at some Quiet Gardens in Ireland.  The aim of the book is to explore our human relationship with nature and draw from that the spiritual meaning we can discover in gardens and the wider environment.

Both Chris and Susan had thought for a long time that the BBC's approach to gardening was too superficial.  The concern has been with 'how to' rather than 'why'.  Chris wanted to challenge the concept that gardens are simply objects of display and look beyond that to the inner meaning of creation and of our part in it.  Gardens connect us with the wider environment in which we are placed and can also provide an entry into the spiritual.  Why do we garden?  and What do we get out of it? are questions which often lead to a more spiritual answer than material.

The book makes the point that all religions have something to say about gardens and the notion of paradise.  Gardens can therefore be places where faiths meet and this idea spurred Chris to encourage the building of the Faith Garden at the Chelsea Flower Show which won the Silver Gilt Prize that delighted Chris so much in the final months of his life.  The Faith Garden has since been re-created on a bigger scale at Capel Manor and is well worth a visit.

Susan Bowden-Pickstock believes than in our current culture we have lost touch with our souls and therefore with our rooted identity.  She hopes that her book will help to re-connect us with our spiritual side and so discover not only what it means to be human in a world of created things, but also how creation is a statement of God's creative and loving activity.  Interestingly, she has now left the BBC to study for ordination.  No doubt her work on Quiet Gardens has helped her reconnect with her spiritual side in a very meaningful way and I suspect that also has much to do with Chris's influence and energy and insight into God which he shared.  She mentions his irrepressible optimism which was catching.  He saw God in everything and everyone which is what made him special and is what makes this book special and also - what makes gardens special because they teem with optimism about God.  A fitting memorial to Chris who loved God and showed it!