God, the Gardener
7/8/2024
I love gardening. Plunging my hands into rich soil. Planting seeds, flowers and vegetables and tending to them. Providing water to sustain them. Keeping the weeds from stealing their nutrients. Watching them grow - a source of beauty and strength amid a world that tries to destroy them. Weeds, bad weather, animals and insects foraging. The beauty they attract - butterflies, bees creating honey, the vivid colors and lush foliage. The food they provide.
God is the ultimate gardener. He created the Garden of Eden after all. He created Man and tends to him. He provides all that we need to live. And if we drink from His cup, we will have eternal life. He provided His only Son to save us against sin - those bad “weeds” of evil and sin that try to destroy us.
John 15:1-4 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.
You may not think of God as a gardener. People hire gardeners to tend to their land, use gardening as a hobby, plant flowers to liven up their yard, or plant a vegetable garden to feed their family.
God, the Father, is our Creator.
A creator is a person or thing that brings something into existence.
Creativity is the use of the imagination or original ideas to make something.
Think of landscaping- sculpting out a garden bed, designing a pattern of plantings for visual appeal, combining the right colors and textures. Using nature to stimulate your senses and inspire you. Creating life and beauty out of a blank slate.
God as our gardener created and designed, nurtures and sustains all life. He maintains the careful balance needed to grow and thrive, and to offer sustenance when we wilt.
Not everyone feels like a creative person or likes to get their hands dirty in a garden. Some feel they don’t have a “green thumb.” But everyone has their own creativity inside of them. Find ways to nurture something or someone. It’s an amazing feeling. And it’s an act of self-fulfillment as well. Gardening and being creative help eliminate stress. The simple act of pulling weeds helps your heart, causes your blood pressure to lower.
Retreat to St. Thomas’ has teachers that led many types of creative and gardening classes. There are community gardens on our church campus that are for rent to create your own nurturing space. There are opportunities to work with our Landscape Committee and learn a wealth of knowledge of caring for our Earth through the earth.
So go ahead and get your hands dirty and feel blessed.
