Gardening Can Be

Optimism

Nurturing

Creation care

Experimenting

Feeding the soul

An act of worship

Respecting plants

Landscape painting

A luxury occupation

An ornament of life

A humbling experience

Taking care of plants

A God-glorifying thing

An instrument of grace

Belieiving in tomorrow

A God-honoring activity

Natural and instructive

Negotiating with nature

Putting plants into soil

A pleasing responsibility

Being near to God’s heart

To be at heart with nature

An opportunity for community

Creating something beautiful

The best therapy in the world

The purest of human pleasures

Improving a piece of the world

The greatest tonic and therapy

Growing and cultivating plants

Stewardship over a patch of land

A way of bringing people together

Creating and playing with colours

The only unquestionably useful job

Wise and loving stewardship of creation

The earthliest and earthiest of the arts

A portal into deep existential contentment

A labour full of tranquility and satisfaction

A series of losses set against a few triumphs

A reminder of God’s sovereignty over the earth

Planning for and believing and trusting in a future

Personal involvement in the care of the environment

Caring for creation through the working of the ground

Combining colours and plants to be pleasing to the eye

Caring for plants until they serves their intended purpose

The ability to partner with God in bringing beauty to life

The making of a comfortable living from a small piece of land

Experiencing the joy of accomplishing more than we can imagine

A place to find ourselves when we feel we need to lose ourselves

A practical way to participate in God’s created order

Existing in relationship with the earth, tending it and caring for it

A way to ground ourselves in the processes of growth and the passage of time

Laying out and caring for of a plot of ground devoted partially or wholly to the growing of plants

A vivid reminder that anything of beauty and radiance takes time, care and devotion to seed and sprout and bloom