Easter Gardens

Holy Saturday, a day of rest, reflection, a time to ponder the events of the past days: Jesus in

the tomb, asleep or with the Father or beyond space and time, the Cosmic Christ. So we too,

pause and reflect ….

Most people like to enjoy the beauty and relaxation that a nice garden affords and many of us

also like to work in the garden and see the fruits of our plantings and diggings sprout into

flowers of beauty and food for nourishment. Either way, there is satisfaction and contentment,

relaxation and fulfillment.

Gardening puts our hands into the clay of the earth, the dirt that fertilizes and brings forth new

life. The word dirt or soil comes from the Latin humus, interestingly so do the words humility and

humor. Perhaps we could say that gardening keeps us humble before the great powers that lie

in the earth itself and not to take ourselves too seriously.

The garden taken in a metaphorical way represents all the gardens of the world with their

beauty and fruitfulness, the majestic gardens of the universe, and of course the gardens that we

know from sacred scripture: in the Book of Genesis the story depicts God walking with our

ancestors in the Garden of Eden in the cool of the evening, the garden of companionship and

friendship; Jesus frequently prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane near the Mount of Olives and

in that garden he met his betrayer and those that would arrest him and demand his death, the

garden of suffering; on Easter morning Jesus was apparently walking in the garden surrounding

his tomb and Mary Magdalene saw him as the gardener and only recognized him when he

called her name, Mary; lastly, there is a garden at the end of the Book of Revelation where the

Tree of Life grows on the banks of the flowing River of Life. So we return to the garden of

companionship with God, through the garden of suffering and the garden at the tomb, and finally

to the garden at the end of time. Thomas Berry translates this to a higher cosmic level when he

says: “Gardening is an active participation in the deepest mysteries of the universe.”

The mystery of matter for God is not opposed to matter for God has entered into matter in

creation and in Jesus, now the Cosmic Christ. Matter matters to God and all things material are

blessed by God and infused with divine presence. We come from the earth and return to the

earth only to rise to consciousness and the eternal spirit of God. The mystery of Easter - death,

life, glory, presence of the Holy Spirit - contains all that is needed for the eternal garden. What a

privilege then to hear our name called by the Divine Gardener.

-Tom Keevey

EASTER GARDENS

Saint Isidore of Seville