About six months ago, a friend gave me about 18 bromeliads from his yard. They propagate well in Florida, so he had to thin out his beds. I planted them in a few different places around my yard. They took root and began to propagate, but all I got was greenery. Until today, when all of a sudden one caught my eye as I passed by with the lawnmower. I didn’t know what to expect. They’re beautiful!
This morning I began another cover-to-cover reading of the Bible. I choose a different translation to read through each time and this time, I’m reading the Common English Bible copyright 2011. The subtitle is “a fresh translation to touch the heart and mind.” I’m certainly not an expert on Bible translations, and I’m sure that this one, like all, has its shortcomings. Like many contemporary translations, I believe it strives to find a balance between word-for-word and thought-for-thought approaches to translation. I work with the English Standard Version each week for sermon preparation and worship, so we’ll see how it goes.
The verses that caught my attention early this morning were Genesis 2:7-8, “the Lord God formed the human from the topsoil of the fertile land and blew life’s breath into his nostrils. The human came to life. The Lord God planted a garden in Eden in the east and put there the human he had formed.” A long time ago in a place far away, God was getting his hands dirty, creating the first man and planting the first garden.
I checked the Hebrew word and indeed, the is plant, which means God and I have something in common. I have planted gardens. In fact, I really enjoy gardening. I suppose I got that from my father, who until recently had all kinds of gardens and grew some amazing roses. Now I find myself wondering if my heavenly Father enjoys gardening. Just imagine the Almighty, Eternal God, the Creator Himself, on his knees, digging a hole, mixing in some fertilizer, and adding a plant to His garden.
As I’ve written about in a previous post, there is something very relaxing about working in the garden. Now I know it’s really a spiritual experience!
A chore recently turned into therapy.
Yard work was until yesterday a necessary chore, just part of being a homeowner. But yesterday, as I raked up bags and bags of dead grass from our lawn, I realized I had stumbled across something therapeutic.
The last week or so has been rough. After a busy weekend hosting our friend Lophane from Haiti, all h*** broke loose. My friend Bud found his mom dead in her apartment. A couple of elderly members were admitted to the hospital in really bad shape. And another, David, was facing major surgery. I’ve dealt with all of these kinds of events before, but this time they just seemed to pile up in a way that left me feeling drained.
Monday morning found me in a pretty bad mood, as was pointed out to me by my neighbor. I came home early that day and to tackle the front yard raking and within half an hour, found myself feeling much better. The beautiful afternoon (we live in Florida, so some February days are indeed beautiful!), the rhythm of raking and the sense of accomplishment made me feel relaxed, refreshed and renewed.
Well, I thought, if this task eases the stresses of ministry, then I’m going to be out here everyday, doing something in the yard. If this helps me unwind, then I’ll be out in the yard every day if I can. Today I stopped and bought some flowers to replace everything that died in last winter’s freeze. I didn’t have a lot of time; just enough to get them all in pots and watered.
I don’t know if it’s being outdoors, or getting my hands dirty, or just focusing on something besides ministry, but I like it and I’ll be out there again tomorrow.
Waite for it... 