Dear Friends,

Yesterday had been the first day for a long time that I was sitting out in the garden. I love my garden and I can't wait for the days getting warmer and longer and those sad looking trees and bushes coming back to life once again.

When you think about it, it is possible to tell the story of our faith in gardens. The story begins with the creation story – the Garden of Eden. This garden is one of perfection and beauty, but it is also the place where humankind can't resist the temptation of becoming like God. It is a story that repeats itself in all our lives as we grow from childhood into adulthood: we become ashamed of our nakedness and we are faced with both the good and the evil in this world.

Then there is the story of the journey to the Promised Land (a journey that is still on-going, you might say) – a garden flowing with milk and honey. This garden represents our struggle to rediscover the Eden we have lost.

We make a big leap then (there are other gardens you can think of for yourself) to the Garden of Gethsemane – one we will certainly visit during our Lenten journey. This is the garden where Jesus himself struggles inwardly with the final self-sacrifice he has to make. There is no deeper point in the story of faith – God himself experiencing the suffering of alienation and abandonment.

Fortunately for us, there is one final garden – the garden of the tomb spoken of in John’s Gospel, where Mary believes she is talking to the gardener – but discovers to her joy and amazement that it is in fact the risen Jesus. It would seem, looking back at the story that Mary wasn’t as mistaken as she thought she was. Jesus is the Gardener of Creation!

What will we discover in The Garden over the course of this month? And what will The Gardener be busy doing?

Yours in Christ, Karsten