One of my mother’s favourite hymns was ‘I Come to the Garden Alone.’ The words are a reflection on the experience of time alone with Jesus in a beautiful garden. Time to walk with Him and talk with Him amongst the roses. If you are a garden lover it’s not hard to imagine the dew on the ground, the beauty and fragrance of flowers, the quiet peace, and the special time this would be. John Eldridge, in his program, ‘30 Days to Resilient’ and in his books, suggests that the human heart and soul has a deep longing to return to Eden, to the garden where there was no darkness, no evil, only glorious beauty, peace and the Presence of God, where Adam and Eve walked with God in
the cool of the evening and shared their lives with Him in perfect harmony.
The Scriptures too proclaim the power of God’s amazing and beautiful creation:
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge.
They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them.
Yet their voice goes out into all the earth and their words to the ends of the world.
Psalm 19:1-4
Who of us hasn’t been stilled by a breathtaking sunset, stunned by the beauty of a vista of magnificent mountains or valley streams, or paused to take in the amazing colour and form of a flower. And how many of us have had it said to us, or have said to others, “It’s time to slow down and smell the roses”. We intuitively know the power of nature to sooth, to inspire, to restore us, to give us perspective on our lives. For many people nature has been the first scripture, the first encounter with a God they cannot deny or ignore, the first touch of the love of God.
Jesus pointed so often in His teaching to the birds of the air, the flowers, the trees, in order to demonstrate the love and provision of God, the wisdom woven into creation. Nature is not deterred by the seasons of life. Each is important and beautiful in its own way, each having a purpose for the sustenance, preparation, nurturing and blossoming of every part of creation. Miracles abound in nature every day. God has made it so and when we become aware of not only the beauty of nature but also the wisdom, we can learn so much about how to take care of ourselves, how to live in harmony with others and how to allow God to take care of us.
During my first silent retreat many years ago, I was struck by how much I could learn by watching ants go about their business, watching the boundaries set by various animals and birds as they prepared and protected their rightful space and resources. I was overcome by the delicacy and perfection of tiny flowers, almost hidden by other growth around them, perhaps hardly ever seen, and yet fashioned by God into something of incredible beauty. They spoke to me of the depth of God’s care for all of His creation. Now that I’m living, surrounded by magnificent trees, enjoying the fragrance and intricacies of beautiful flowers and
plants, enjoying the sounds of birds, frogs, and yes, even cicadas, I give thanks every day for the blessing and wisdom of nature. Of course, it’s true, that like us, all of creation is suffering the bondage of decay and waits eagerly to be liberated and brought into the complete freedom and glory of God (Romans 8), but until then, there are such wonderful glimpses of heaven, such amazing revelations of who God is, of all He has promised and prepared for us, of how much He loves us. We just need to stop a while and listen, watch and be blessed. I love the quote by Elizabeth Barrett Browning: ‘Earth is crammed with heaven, and every common bush afire with God. But only he who sees takes off his shoes.’ Some have amended the quote to say, ‘Only he who takes off his shoes, sees.’ Either way involves stopping a while to listen for what God might say and receiving a touch of His love and care. Elizabeth’s sobering end to the quote may be a warning to us all, “The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries, and daub their natural faces unaware.”
The Garden of Eden was God’s gift to his first children. It was holy ground. It was perfection, a perfection we will have for eternity, where walking and talking with our heavenly Father will be our complete experience. For now we have been called to be stewards of the earth and all of its beauty and resources. While it seems the world is coming to appreciate how important that is for our physical survival, my prayer is that more and more we will appreciate how important and blessed it is to take time in a garden, to sit or walk in a quiet corner of nature, a beautiful space where we can soak in the wonder of creation and how it speaks to us of God, how it can heal, restore and renew us.
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