How does your garden grow?

Kenneth L. Gibble

As a youngster, I was frequently assigned to pull weeds in my dad's large garden. I didn't like it much when we worked together, but I absolutely hated it when I had to pull weeds alone. I despised the dirt that got under my fingernails, the hot sun, the humidity, the endless bending. I hated everything about the garden.

After such wretched childhood experiences, how do I explain the fact that now I welcome the yearly ritual of spading my backyard plot and watching my garden grow? The explanation that makes most sense to me is to say gardening is "in my blood". A biblical way of saying that is that gardening is one of the things humankind was created for.

I am convinced that a return to our gardens is necessary if we are to recover the image of God humanity has lost and if we are to keep our world from becoming uninhabitable.

"In the beginning," says the book of Genesis, "God created the heavens and the earth. And God saw that it was good." Then God created humanity and pronounced it "very good".

What is the place of man and woman in such a wonderful world? God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth" (Genesis 1:28).

The key word here is "dominion". One interpretation of this word is that humanity has been given absolute control over the created world. Some critics of the Judeo-Christian tradition have said that this passage has led to all the problems we have today. When people thought they had been given dominion over the earth by God, runs the argument, they ruthlessly levelled forests, polluted rivers and fouled the atmosphere.

But "dominion" as it is used in Genesis does not condone exploitation or abuse. It means instead securing the well-being of all creation. Furthermore, in our dominion over nature, humankind is required to be an "image" of God. How does God exercise dominion? God's rule is always for the sake of God's children. The dominion of God is nothing other than God's love, expressing itself in order. When God gave man and woman dominion over the earth, God intended that this dominion be expressed as loving care of the natural world.

It is easy to get sentimental about nature, to picture burnished bronze sunsets, to think of lazy days spent fishing on the lake, to speak of the "simple life" of country folk. Actually, the world of nature is a nice place to visit, but a hard place to live in. Dominion, even when we define it as loving care, does not mean going about with a watering can showering blessings on weeds and flowers alike. Only those who have never encountered nature's own violence could suppose that nature "left to itself" would be wonderful.

In Genesis 2, there is another account of creation: "The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to till it and keep it" (2:15). As we have become increasingly distant and alienated from the earth, we have become more out of touch with our God-given vocation of tilling and keeping the garden. I believe this helps account for the rootlessness that haunts so many people today.

What can be done to remedy the situation? First, I suggest you have one or more living creatures you attend to regularly a dog, a cat, a goldfish or at least birds that come to your feeder. You should have plants in your rooms, growing things that remind you of our common dependency. The next step is growing some vegetables, even if it's only a few tomato plants in a pot.

Why are such things important? Because being in touch with the earth and its creatures helps us keep in touch with the One who put us here. It confirms our identity as caretakers of creation. As we plant seeds in the earth and ask God to bless the seeds we sow, we will gain increasing awareness that all food comes from the earth, and increasing concern that every child on earth has enough to eat.

Years ago, I learned in elementary school a song they probably don't teach in schools today:

Back of the loaf is the snowy flour,
Back of the flour, the mill.
Back of the mill is the wheat, the shower,
The sun, and our Father's will.

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