A popular children’s story tells of a little girl named Mary who loses her parents to an epidemic illness. Orphaned and lonely, she is sent to live with her uncle, who is somewhat ill-equipped to care for a grieving child.
One day the little girl decides to explore her new surroundings. In the process she discovers a long-unopened door in a high wall behind a tangle of overgrown plants. Mustering her strength and courage, she opens the door and finds behind it an untended but beautiful garden—a secret garden.
The story speaks of the wonder, joy, and love that spring from the garden. There Mary finds happiness once again, and her happiness multiplies as she shares the garden with others.¹
Gardens come in all shapes and sizes. Some are brilliantly decorated with a wide variety of well-manicured flowers and shrubs. Some are more independent and grow with little interference from the gardener. Some gardens invite us to stroll and take in the sights and smells of nature’s handiwork. Other gardens seem to beckon us to sit awhile and ponder our place in the world. Vegetable gardens promote provident living and remind us where our life’s sustenance ultimately comes from.
All gardens offer a refuge from the bustle of noisy streets and the hardness of steel and brick. In a garden we can dig in the life-giving soil, linger in the sunlight, sample sweet fragrances, and witness the law of the harvest in action.
Each of us can find joy in a garden. It could be a large plot of roses, a simple potted petunia, or perhaps a more elaborate garden that exists only in your imagination. Whatever form it takes, in our personal garden we can be lifted up and find new life. Our garden can be for us a place “where love grows free and wild.”²
Program #4060
¹See Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden.
²Marsha Norman, “Come to My Garden,” from The Secret Garden.