Life, Gardens And The Coming Of Spring
Meditations On Scripture
BY Marilyn Smith
While reading the Song of Songs in the Bible a few mornings ago
I came across this about the passing of winter and gardens and it spoke to me.
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All of us look forward to the passing of the cold and wind of a deep winter freeze.
These verses which were excerpted from the Song of Solomon chapter 2, speak to the joy which comes to us on a spring morning.
Look, the winter is past;
the rains are over and gone.
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Blossoms appear through all the land.
The time has come to sing;
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the cooing of doves is heard in our land.
There are young figs on the fig trees,
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and the blossoms on the vines smell sweet.………
My beloved is like a dove hiding in the cracks of the rock,
in the secret places of the cliff.
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…………………..
He browses among the lilies.
Before the dawn breezes blow
and the night shadows flee,
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It seems to me gardens are truly the place we can learn many of life’s truths.
A garden and or plants are like life, they have their seasons and there is birth, life and death.
There are days of gentle rain, days of bright sunshine and others of overcast, clouds, and even violent storms.
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We, like gardens, go through times which bring
great joy and times which cause deep sadness.
It all fits into the Master Gardner’s Plan and we must live our life according to that Plan.
Some of us plant our gardens as we live our lives, willy-nilly. Others lay out the days, weeks and months like rows in a garden.
But we cannot lay out the vicissitudes and circumstances which nature and the changing of the earth can bring.
The Master’s Plan may seem capricious to us and even unwelcome at times but the Lord of the Harvest is planting seeds in our life which will grow to great beauty and usefulness.
We must remove the weeds and make sure our heart’s ground is well tended and ready to receive the seeds of future promise.
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There is a reason why the garden and nature are so often used in scripture.
I think it is to remind us the presence of the nurturing hand of our Creator on our life. May we follow His Plan for us.
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Permission to use the photos coutesy of ValleyLynn (4&9)
& Kevin Smith (7&10)
in addition to mine.
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