In the garden of the soul

Show me the way that I must take; to Thee I offer all my heart. Teach me to do thy will for thou art my God. Keep me safe, O Lord, for the honor of thy name. ~ Psalm 143:8,10,11 NEB

This is the view this time of year of what I still think of as Steve and Amy's field. Pie in the sky dreaming, probably. The colors of spring are almost as vibrant as the colors of fall: the green of the leaves and yellow of the flowers beginning to break through the tarnished gold of last year's corn stubble on the ground; the pinks, oranges, and yellow flowing out of the black, wet trunks of the trees in watercolor blur; gray stick of the trees yet to blossom standing like punctuation marks between the colors.

Same landscape as my life these days, really. Cancer and hospitalizations and illness in the midst of the busiest season of learning are the punctuation marks between the colors. The vibrant colors of children's voices, laughter, scooters and bikes whirring on the deck boards of the porch and the rattle and hum of Big Wheels flying helter-skelter down the gravel driveway. The smells of bonfires burning, and brats over the fire, and clean, musky rain. The life overflowing with pain lends haunting sweetness to the life running over with small joys.

When I wake up in the garden

Peaceful slumber wakes my eyes

The sun and moon are always present

There are no more crying people around

Love fills all up inside me

Filling my heart with wishful dreams

No more sorrow fills my canvas

Along this lonely sea

Ships fall off of the horizon

Bringing love, peace, and joy

No fire can ever harm us

Only music fills the air

~ the voice of another worshiper found in an unexpected place:

Susan Tedeschi sings "In the Garden", co-written by Tedeschi

with her bass guitarist, Tommy Shannon, best known for his

days with Stevie Ray Vaughn

We sometimes imagine that God must eventually "sit us down" and "explain" his mysterious ways to our satisfaction. Let us suppose we have never seen a skyscraper. We discover a whole city block surrounded by a board fence. Finding a knothole, we peer inside. Huge earth movers are at work; hundreds of men in hard hats are busy at mysterious tasks; cranes are being moved into place; truckloads of pipes and cement are being unloaded. What on earth is happening? There is nobody around to answer our questions. If we wait long enough, nobody will need to. When we see the finished building, all the incomprehensible activity becomes comprehensible. "Oh! So this is what that was for."
"I shall be satisfied when I awake, with Thy likeness" (Ps 17: 15 AV).