“Then Mary turned around and saw Jesus . . . but she thought He was the gardener.”  John 20

“I come to the garden alone, while the dew is still on the roses, and the voice I hear, falling on my ear, the song of God discloses.”  The Hymn “In The Garden”

Spring is a time for many activities, not the least of which is gardening.

Are you a gardener?  If so, what do you find in your garden?

“Mary, Mary Quite Contrary” found silver bells and cockle shells and pretty maids all in a row.  Mr. McGregor found Peter Rabbit.  Charles Austin Miles found the voice of God whispering in his ear. Mary Magdalene found The Risen Lord, disguised as The Gardener.  This has many layers of significance, not the least of which is that the risen Christ comes as a “regular person” in nature.  And that is the nature of God.  Gardens are a good place to discover The Presence of God.

God is first found in a garden.  And that is where Adam and Eve are planted.  They enjoyed full and perfect communion with The indwelling Presence of God; at least for a time.  But like every human they weren’t satisfied with what they had—somehow simply Being With God isn’t enough—and so we look for something more.  Our hearts are not content with tending gardens or just being gardeners, we want more.  And so they strayed, and dwelt East of Eden.

But the second Adam was more than content to be “just” a gardener.  It was The Presence of God that He desired, and divined.  It shouldn’t surprise us that as He faced a test in The Garden of Gethsemane, He opts for eating from the tree of death, the cross.  And His body was placed in a garden tomb. 

The nature of nature is that something must die in order for there to be life.  A seed must be planted in order for fruit to grow.  St. Paul, in the fifteenth chapter of his first letter to the church in Corinth speaks of Christ as the “first fruits” of those who have fallen asleep.  Christ becomes the prototype of everything in creation.  He dies and rises again, and so do we. That’s the pattern of the new creation, ushered in on the eighth day.

There is yet one more garden of significance, that being the one spoken of in the last chapter of Revelation.  John sees a river, on each side of which is The Tree of Life.  I like to think of this tree in the shape of a cross, fully in bloom, giving off an intoxicating fragrance, like Lilly or Lilac.  This Tree is for the healing of the nations.  Oh, how badly that is needed.  A garden for healing.  And a Gardener to tend it.

So what do you find in your garden?  Life?  Renewal? Resurrection?  Healing? The Presence of God?  The Gardener?

Have I lived enough?
Have I loved enough?
Have I considered Right Action enough, have I
come to any conclusions?
Have I experienced happiness with sufficient gratitude?
Have I endured loneliness with grace?

I say this, or perhaps I’m just thinking it.
Actually, I probably think too much.

Then I step out into the garden,
where the gardener, who is said to be a simple man,
is tending his children, the roses.  Mary Oliver