ne of the first things we see God doing on this earth is planting a garden. Eden. A place of lush beauty and growth, flora and fauna living exactly as they were meant to, tended first by God; then by humans empowered to do the same. Things go wrong and get messy, but this image of God as gardener continues throughout Scripture. Israel is described as a grapevine, tended carefully by God (Ps. 80). Jesus even calls his Father a “gardener” in the famous “I am the vine” passage. Jesus’ last evening was spent in a garden; and the first time we see him after his resurrection, he is in a garden – and mistaken for a gardener! And of course there is the parable of the soil and the seed with God as its gardener-sower. It seems to be everywhere. God is the gardener and we are the thing tended. What do you make of this picture of God as gardener? How do you see God at work in the garden today? In human lives? In the world and its systems? How does God tend the garden of your own soul? Take a moment to close your eyes and take a few deep breaths. Then, imagine your internal world as a garden. What is growing there? What does the soil look like? Does it need maintenance? Is it rocky or overgrown with weeds? Is it dry and needing irrigation? Are there things blooming – and even fruiting – in you right now? How does the Gardener tend to *you* in that space? How might you tend to the work of your garden right alongside God?

Posted by Anam Cara Abbey at 2021-05-04 13:46:09 UTC