Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden,
and in the garden a new tomb where no one had ever been laid.
  (John 19:41)

Easter is the springtime celebration of Christ’s triumph over death. A hymn (379) we sang recently during service neatly juxtaposed divine love and new growth: love is come again/ like wheat arising green. A garden is one of my favorite images of Easter, of winter and death tamed or transformed. There are famous gardens throughout scripture: Eden, Gethsemane and Paradise. The garden is an image of man and God working together for the fulfillment of the potential of life.
 
Creating a garden is a way of life. It is a joint effort with the Creator to nourish the potential in our surroundings. A garden is a sheltered and tended place where we reap what we sow. A garden can be created anywhere; in a yard, a roof top, a well-lighted room, a wilderness. It is a spot where one plant follows another year after year. Even within a single year in a flower garden, there are diverse plants inhabiting roughly the same spot: spring croci followed by daffodils, by violets, by summer columbines and stock and by fall mums and asters. I am always stunned by how forlorn and empty a garden looks as the last snow melts, but how by Easter, there is almost no ground visible. Mounds of green leaves cover every spot and promise ever unfolding beauty.
 
I feel close to the divine in a garden watering, feeding, staking, settling territorial disputes, and casting out invasives. When I rip out thousands of seedlings that if allowed to grow would choke my garden, I think I understand natural disasters. There is so much life surrounding us, there has to be a culling.
 
I feel alive in all my senses in a garden. Flowers, needles, earth and fresh air awaken my senses of touch, sight, sound and especially smell. When I was little, I remember my mother telling me to smell my sheets on washday. Sheets hung outside to dry, bring paradise inside.

Dear God,
Thank you for the constant reminders of your love of life. Help me to grow into a true gardener. Amen

Contributed by Susan
Sunday May 8, 2012
Liturgical Year A: Week 25
Liturgical Color: Gold
Sunday Gospel reading:
Third Sunday of Easter