I have spent very little of my life in a home of my own. Growing up, we lived in the Manse (or Rectory) of the Presbyterian Church where my Dad was the pastor for 28 years. During that time they had a house in Cape May Point, purchased during the war, that we went to summer, when it wasn't rented out to others. My parents retired there and my Mom still lives there. Being a priest and bishop, my family and I have mostly lived in Rectories, with a rare occasion when we have owned our own home. We presently live in the Rectory of St. Thomas' in Lyndhurst. They have a Rector who has her own housing elsewhere. I was feeling somewhat glum the other day about not having my very own garden to tend, in my very own yard. I love caring for plants and growing things, although I am not fussy and my garden care is sporadic and exotic.And then it struck me - no matter where I am, and whose garden I tend, I am always tending someone else's garden. These gardens, whether on property with my name or not, are gardens that begin and end in God. The earth, where I walk, will last long after I am gone. It is God's garden from beginning to end, no matter where I plant, no matter where I water. My dangerous thinking is that if I had my own garden, I could do it right, and wouldn't have to deal with what other people have left behind. But, I know what has been left behind, can be the source of great flowering and great blessing. And this work is not mine alone, but it is God's from beginning to end.
So, for today, I want to pray Psalm 104 which always gives me perspective on my life. My job is clear. "I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;I will praise my God while I have my being." God asks me to do what I can do with the gifts I have been given. I can sing and I can give thanks, even when there seems to be nothing of mine, and nothing that is in my control. I can still use my voice and my heart for tending the garden.
May you who read this blog try praying this ancient Psalm today. We are all people looking for our place, all looking to serve God and be called by name. God is in the midst of us, loving us beyond our capacity to receive that love or understand it. May we pray today, that we might be given the strength, voice and heart to tend the gardens where we are planted.
Psalm 104
Bless the Lord, O my soul; O Lord my God, how excellent is your greatness!
you are clothed with majesty and splendor.
You wrap yourself with light as with a cloak and spread out the heavens like a curtain.
You lay the beams of your chambers in the waters above; you make the clouds your chariot; you ride on the wings of the wind.
You make the winds your messengers and flames of fire your servants.
You have set the earth upon its foundations,so that it never shall move at any time.
You covered it with the Deep as with a mantle; the waters stood higher than the mountains.
At your rebuke they fled; at the voice of your thunder they hastened away.
They went up into the hills and down to the valleys beneath,to the places you had appointed for them.
You set the limits that they should not pass;they shall not again cover the earth. You send the springs into the valleys; they flow between the mountains.
All the beasts of the field drink their fill from them,and the wild asses quench their thirst.
Beside them the birds of the air make their nests and sing among the branches.
You water the mountains from your dwelling on high;the earth is fully satisfied by the fruit of your works.
You make grass grow for flocks and herds and plants to serve mankind;
That they may bring forth food from the earth,and wine to gladden our hearts,
Oil to make a cheerful countenance,and bread to strengthen the heart.
The trees of the Lord are full of sap,the cedars of Lebanon which he planted,
In which the birds build their nests,and in whose tops the stork makes his dwelling.
The high hills are a refuge for the mountain goats, and the stony cliffs for the rock badgers.
You appointed the moon to mark the seasons,and the sun knows the time of its setting.
You make darkness that it may be night, in which all the beasts of the forest prowl. The lions roar after their prey and seek their food from God.
The sun rises, and they slip away and lay themselves down in their dens.
Man goes forth to his work and to his labor until the evening.
O Lord, how manifold are your works!in wisdom you have made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures.
Yonder is the great and wide sea with its living things too many to number,
creatures both small and great.
There move the ships,and there is that Leviathan,which you have made for the sport of it.
All of them look to you to give them their food in due season.
You give it to them; they gather it; you open your hand, and they are filled with good things.
You hide your face, and they are terrified; you take away their breath,
and they die and return to their dust.
You send forth your Spirit, and they are created;and so you renew the face of the earth.
May the glory of the Lord endure for ever; may the Lord rejoice in all his works.
He looks at the earth and it trembles; he touches the mountains and they smoke.
I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;I will praise my God while I have my being.
May these words of mine please him; I will rejoice in the Lord.
Let sinners be consumed out of the earth,and the wicked be no more.
Bless the Lord, O my soul. Hallelujah!
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