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When God placed man and woman in Eden,
he commissioned them as gardeners.
These royal priests,
This holy sacrifice,
Digging dirt and tending plants,
Naming things and it was so.
This would be his call, not just to them, but to all humankind -
To participate with the God who delegates.
We’re all gardeners now, by God’s design;
Tending talent,
Cultivating capability,
Growing people and products,
and making something of His world
Chock full of potentiality.
At work and at home
We garden the soil.
And even in that ideal setting, before thorns and thistles,
We were called to keep
Guarding grass
Protecting plants
Perhaps it was a joy, then, to pick weeds and flick bugs
to give shape and purpose to the wild and waste
Our small patch of ground in our corner of the garden
Needs keeping, guarding, tending, protecting.
But our garden isn’t Eden.
Though the serpent’s head would be crushed,
We still struggle, suffer, toil and strain.
Thorns grow up and envelope our work
Our bodies, minds, souls--they hurt.
Justice flies away,
Righteousness flees.
We feel it and live it and ache and ask,
How long, oh Lord?
But God sees, God hears, God knows.
He never intended to leave us alone
He took on flesh
He felt our pain
A crown of thorns placed upon his head
He wore it and died.
But he rose again.
And now God whispers in our hurt
“I am making all things new.”
Listen, not all new things, as if he might get rid of his world like a bad first idea,
A rough draft to be crumpled and thrown in the trash.
He’ll make it new again
Refinished, refurbished, refined - this time without the dross
A shining city, purified like gold.
Since that day is coming
We embrace our vocation to join him in this work even now,
As he renews all things.
Hoping, healing, fixing, mending
Like a foretaste of things to come.
What will be, can be, at least in part
Until that day we keep our eyes on the prize
Knowing in our work, we can’t bring God’s kingdom
Yet, like yeast it spreads, all the way through the dough,
So we work and we pray,
May your kingdom come,
May your will be done
On earth, as it is in heaven
Common Good, 2021