From Paradise Lost to Paradise Regained
The Gardens in the Journey to Easter
March 27, 2024. Vol. 17, Issue 14
Welcome to Eyes on Christ, a weekly letter, every Wednesday from my heart to yours. I'm a story-gardener, cultivating personal tales that blossom into insights on spirituality, culture, nature, and our constantly evolving world. An explorer-writer, I intertwine ancient wisdom and modern curiosities for a journey of self-discovery. As always, thanks for reading. Happy Easter and God bless you!
It’s Holy Week, only a few days until Easter Sunday, one of the holiest and most joyous celebrations of the Christian calendar. As the world around us awakens from winter’s sleep, seasonal, and unseasonable rains, our humble So Cal garden of grace is bursting with new life, an active canvas of color, energy, and fragrance. Buzzing bees dip into succulent desert blooms, their gentle humming intermingling with the excited twitter of unseen birds. Apricot blossoms fill bare twigs and gigantic golden trumpets canopy a lattice trellis. Bearded white irises rise triumphantly among the sunburst profusion of citrus treasures while close by a brilliant bougainvillea stretches its boughs wide open towards the skies. The garden is alive, hinting at the themes of growth, renewal, and restoration that are at the heart of the Easter story of a resurrection people.
It is no wonder that gardens feature so prominently in the Bible, one of the world’s great literary treasures. As it turns out, Easter is a story through two gardens, a journey that spans vast stretches of time and space, with two gardeners and two women whose roles, though often misunderstood are pivotal to the season’s message.