"The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. And the Lord God said, 'The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.' So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life." -Genesis 3: 21-24
God's first incident of wrath upon man. God's first punishment. God's first banishment. All in a garden. Why don't gardens have some sort of stigma then? There are never-ending weeds to pull, yes, and we have to nurture flowers like babies when nature won't cooperate and do her job. (Rain, why don't you?) But there is no more inviting place than a garden when you want to meet up with God. Perhaps this is because God walked in the garden in the cool of the day (Gen. 3:8). As I've been gardening every morning this week, it has seemed as though God is still walking through the garden, and we can both look at the roses and see that they are Good. I look at a rosebud on the cusp of bloom and I see God. I look at a rose in full bloom and I see God. This is not a natural practice for me. Usually I'm squinting into the distance questioning whether or not that far-off figure is really God. In a garden, it's unmistakable. Once you strip away man's office buildings, factories, shops, houses, and paved roads--once you take away man's great accomplishments and man-made comforts, you're left with what is naturally present. In the rawest physical form, you have God. Yes, it is by God's power all of these other things have come into existence, but as I've written before, it's too easy to glorify myself when my hands have been involved. I can plant a seed, but I can't make it grow. Not my territory, not my ability. In a garden, you either submit to this truth or potentially hit a frustrated fail.
Such is life?
i can't find the real song on youtube, but there is a JJ Heller song that applies here called "grow"
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsylnoHjsnM
word verification: sqxhom
i have no idea what that means.
I found it on iTunes, thankee. I like it, but of course I wouldn't post a song that directly associates with growing in a post about growing. Much too uniform. :)
ReplyDeleteYour word verification means the square of x multiplied by hom (the Healer of men). Look! I obscurely applied math to God! Is there purpose in my major yet? :P