The Garden: A Brief Contemplation on Hope and Eternity

Today I was out looking for a gift for my mother. She loves to garden, so I found a pot of roses. As I looked closer at them. I recalled a line in a hymn that she and my grandmother used to sing a verse in a hymn written by William A. Golden, “A Rose is blooming there for me.” In times such as this we need hope. A hope that spans time into eternity.

The Old Garden:  To Canaan’s Land I’m on my way.

In the early 90s, in Rosston Arkansas, that is forty minutes outside of Hope Arkansas, where Former President Bill Clinton used to live. We were there to celebrate my grandmother’s birthday. It was springtime, and all of the cousins were there. However, this time was different. My mother’s family would visit her grandmother’s home for it seemed to be the last time. The old house was up the road from my grandmother’s. So, this was the home of my great-grandmother. Most of my mother’s family lived in the area for almost a century. Everybody was there to give one last walkthrough. I was too young to remember all the places and small spaces in the house. But I do remember the rose bush in the old garden. It was close to the old well that was in the front yard. My mother wanted the rose bush for herself. We would then carefully dig it up and take it home.

There are times in our lives when we must allow God to move us from an old place.  Move us from issues, confusion, habits, and maybe drama.  True, we’ve been there for years, but we were not growing to our fullest potential.  So, God moves us from the old garden of our lives.  The world is full of issues, trauma, and problems.  Hope is more than just thinking about it.  It is a firm belief that God can and will bring us out. 

Job 14:7 “For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again…”

Hope is the thing that anchors our hearts, our minds, and even the soul.  In time and prayer, God will turn things around. 

Hebrews 6:19 "Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil..."

God will eventually move us from the old garden.

The New Garden:  I’m on my way to that fair land…

We finally got back home.  We unpacked and the bush was replanted.  It was placed in the corner of the backyard, away from the basketball goal, and everything.  It was an open space where it could thrive and grow.  The only issue is we had a dog.  The dog was a Siberian husky.  He was a beautiful dog, with a black a white coat.  He had black circles around his eyes, his name was “Bandit”.  Bandit did not care too much about the new bush.  Over time, he destroyed the bush.  I still do not know how it was done, especially with the thorns in its stems.

Even when placed in the new garden of life.  Life can and will happen.  Things outside our control.  Circumstances may arise and destroy the things we were blessed with.  It may not be their fault, they are just doing what they are known to do, like Bandit.  However, like a bandit, the enemy can come in and try to “steal, kill and destroy.”  The good news is Jesus said, “I have come, that you might have life and that more abundantly.”  That didn’t help our plight, the old bush from the old garden was gone, and my mother was devastated.

The Greater Garden:  A Rose is blooming there for me. Where the soul never dies…

Years later, I would be on the hunt for a Mother’s Day gift.  My father gave us an idea, it was to either get a tomato plant or a rose bush.  My mind immediately went back to when I was younger, and how Bandit tore up that old bush.  I went to the store, and I saw some rose bushes.  As I looked at it, I remembered the story and the song.  I remembered what that bush meant to my mother.  I remembered the old house from when it came, and the family that was there.  I then bought the rose bush and gave it to my mother for a greater garden.

One day, God will take us to a greater garden.  Flowers purchased by Jesus, to be planted up there.  This is the hope that we have in times like these.  Eternity is confusing and comforting at the same time.  If our hope is founded, we will be alright. 

Momma loved the rose bush, by the way.  She told me to take a better picture of it, so I did.

Family, as we go through life, lets hold to God’s unchanging hand. Thanks for coming.

For more books on faith check these out.

If you want me as a freelance writer for history, education, and religion let me know.

·       Email: kingcamujumbe@gmail.com

Christian Books and Gifts:

1.    Books on Hope and Eternity:  https://amzn.to/3JX2rQb (Amazon)

2.    Christian Apparel:  https://amzn.to/4blc1sw (Amazon)

3.    Study Bibles:  https://amzn.to/3QImvcO (Amazon)

4.    Devotionals:  https://amzn.to/3UBqZTP (Amazon)

Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.