Finding the Garden


 

Nestled among the streets of my neighborhood lies a wonderful church. The congregation converted a part of their property to a large and thriving community garden. It is nice to see the strong and sturdy brick buildings sharing space with the various planter boxes of green and growing life. They just seem to go together, a perfect pair.
On this day, I noticed that a load of the basics had recently arrived. Rich, dark soil and mulch await any gardeners who find there way to some time in the garden. They can plant and work the soil. They can freshen up the planters as they prepare for winter. They can get their hands dirty and feel the sun on their face as they reconnect with God’s creation.
In the second chapter of the first book of the Bible, we find a garden. It is the perfect place, a focal point in all of the creation story: “Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” if you are familiar with the story, things do not end well. The humans fall prey to temptation and are cast out of the idyllic garden to make their way in the larger world.
I suppose that is why I love to walk by this neighborhood church with its neighborhood garden. It seems to me that ever since we left the garden, we are trying through various means to find our way back. At her best, the Church points us in the right direction. At her best, the Church teaches us that finding the garden, finding ourselves back in a healthy and comfortable relationship with God, is about the basics. Like soil and mulch, the basics of love and trust tend our souls and nurture our relationship with God. The love of God is the soil out of which grows all creation. Our trust in that amazing truth is how we come to experience God’s love. Out of these basics of love and trust grows a life worth living.
Peace.

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