Grandpa was a gardener; in fact he was a great gardener. He\nworked for the Laird up at the big house in Clackmannanshire, Scotland. It\nbecame his occupation. He took up the job as a gardener when he came home from\nthe \u2018great war\u2019. He eventually became the head gardener so he must have been\ngood. His garden at home was as beautiful as the garden he was paid to look\nafter \u2013 he was more than the sum of the parts. He understood what he was doing and\ngained great results. It was his vocation. Being a soldier was not his\nvocation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mum and dad were great gardeners, my sister and brother in law\nhave a great garden, and friends have great gardens\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I am not a gardener! <\/p>\n\n\n\n
There is a kind of certain despair that comes across the faces\nof my friends when I talk about gardening because they know I am talking\neloquent rubbish and I don\u2019t really have a clue. They are very kind and listen to\nme with a sympathetic ear (or smirk behind their hands, this being more often\nthe case). Occasionally I get something right and this can raise a small cheer.\nOver the years I have spent lots of money buying plants and herbs. Recently I\nwent to a specialist rose centre to buy some \u2018bare root roses\u2019 (?). When asked\nby the assistant what kind of roses I wanted my mind went blank and I blurted\nout coloured ones! The assistant then opened up a one sided dialogue all about\nroses, I was rooted (no excuses for the pun) to the spot trying my best to show\nI was taking in all this information and then she suddenly said, \u2018I hope that\nhelps?\u2019 I replied, \u2018Tall roses please!\u2019. What a dunce! I am not a gardener.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I have two strategies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Strategy 1: When I plant (bury) something in the ground, for\nexample a tall yellow flower, I pray over it just in case I am performing a\nfuneral service! If it survives then I realise that I have indeed picked up the\ngardening genes from my grandpa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Strategy 2: The right to life, enjoy a wilderness garden where\nnature takes its course, only be brutal to the grassed area and cut it when\nneeded. No burial services! So from being made in God\u2019s image, the great\ngardener Himself, I don\u2019t think I was vocationally around when the garden gene\nwas distributed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
And gardens appear so often in the bible; the Garden of Eden, The\ngarden in Song of Solomon, Garden of Gethsemane, and Mount of Olives. There are\nCedars of Lebanon being harvested, Hyssop, Cinnamon, and Myrrh and many more references.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Planting is everywhere in the bible,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018You will\nplant vineyards\u2019, \u2018I built gardens and parks.\u2019, and \u2018You will be like a\nwell-watered garden. \u2019, \u2018Those who work the land\u2026.\u2019.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n It is strange is it not with so many references to God\u2019s\nperfect creation, gardens, plants, seeds and tree\u2019s that Jesus didn\u2019t say \u2018I\nwill make you a gardener of men.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n He did however say, \u201cI\nwill make you fishers of men\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I don\u2019t dislike gardening, it\u2019s the death toll that worries me; but, I do like being a fisherman. I can do that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Image Credit: Annie Spratt<\/p>\n