Anyone who knows me for very long, learns that I love flowers. I love all kinds, all varieties, all colors. One of my favorite places is the nearby Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. Even in the midst of winter, I can find flowers blooming in the conservatory. There is something nurturing and healing, being in the presence of such beauty.

I search for public gardens when I travel. Large or small it doesn’t really matter. What I always see are gardens that have been tended, cared for and nurtured. The gardeners care deeply for their plants, they care for the soil, get rid of  weeds, and leave for those of us who visit a beautiful display.

Which is why I was struck by a line in 1st Corinthians 3:9 in the REB, where Paul writing to the people of Corinth, says to them, “You are God’s garden.”

We are people nurtured and cared for by God. We are meant to spread beauty in our communities. To be useful, having been nurtured ourselves by a master gardener, to go on to  nurture others,  tending  to needs and concerns in our world.

We are God’s garden, trying not to be weeds, messing with the rest of the garden. A garden planted in the soil of God’s grace. Sprinkled with Holy Rays of light and strengthened by the Spirit’s touch. Each plant, unique and different, meant to radiate beauty  in it’s own way.   The value of each one known by the Gardner, planted for a purpose,  for a reason, and loving tended by a divine hand.