March 6, 2026 - Good Morning! It’s Friday, March 6.
Are you a gardener? I must admit that I am not. Do you have a “green thumb”? Mine’s black! If you have a potted plant that you’ve grown tired of caring for, just give it to me, and I guarantee that within a few days, it will surely be dead. I have great admiration for those who have a talent for making things grow. And I have great appreciation of gardens.
We are witnessing, right now, the rebirth of nature. Everyday, when I walk out my front door, I see colors that weren’t there yesterday. I see trees and plants that have suddenly burst back into life. Spring is my favorite season. March is my favorite month. It’s a moment in time when there is amazing evidence of God’s creation around every corner, and within every garden.
Our focus today is on the old gospel hymn “In the Garden.” Its writer, C. Austin Miles, was a bit of an eccentric. He always dressed in the formal attire of a southern gentleman (think Colonel Sanders of KFC). He was trained as a pharmacist, but gave it up in midlife to pursue his two passions - photography and hymn writing. He was NOT a gardener. One day, in the spring of 1912, Miles was not in the garden, but, rather, was in his dank, dusty basement in New Jersey. He had converted it into a darkroom, and there, amid the smell of developing chemicals, he opened his Bible to John 20.
The familiar story of the garden tomb suddenly sprang to life in his imagination. Later, C. Austin Miles would share that it was as if he, himself, was standing there with Peter and John and Mary Magdalene, looking into that empty grave. Take a moment to sing the song that he wrote that day. Maybe it will transport you back to the moment when Jesus Christ suddenly burst back into life... in a garden.
I come to the garden alone, while the dew is still on the roses
And the voice I hear, falling on my ear, the Son of God discloses
And He walks with me and He talks with me and He tells me I am His own
And the joy we share as we tarry there, none other has ever known
Meet you back here on Monday,
David
cindertex50@yahoo.com
