When our children were young, we would do a project with construction paper to prepare for Easter. The concept was to create a three-dimensional “garden.”
Materials included tape, glue, scissors, a stapler, and sheets of multi-colored paper. The children helped create the scene by rolling, folding, scoring, and gluing the paper shapes that became standing palm trees, feathered grasses, flowering plants, rocks, and pathways. With simple things, our collaboration gave depth, dimension, texture, and color to our imaginary “garden.” While the result wasn’t museum quality, it was family quality – a joyous activity. When finished, we recognized that we had created a representation of living space.
This was an Easter exercise.
We invited our young ones to imagine and reflect on the garden scene described in John’s gospel when Mary Magdalene encountered the Risen Jesus. The story tells us that she thought Jesus was the gardener, recognizing Him only when He called her name (John 20:15-17).
Mary moves from the darkness of grieving, “… early in the morning, while it was still dark …” (John 20:1), to the light of faith – realizing her friend and teacher was living in her presence. Seeing Him, hearing Him call her name is transforming beyond imagining.
A garden is a lovely place to begin a new path forward, a greater depth of meaning, enduring hope, and love that colors everything we do. I think there are many kinds of gardens in our lives, not only the natural soil and seed kind, but also many situations that gift us with growth and new life.
Faith in the Risen Jesus lets joy spring from all the gardens of our lives. It is the gift of New Life.
“… I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10)
In the gospel story, the garden is not a place of confinement; the tomb is empty. It is a place of meaning and purpose, insight and mission, faith and action. It is where we grow, where the Lord cultivates our faith, preparing us for the mission on which He sends us. Jesus sends Mary Magdalene on her mission to tell the astonishing news, “I have seen the Lord.” (John 20:18)
Let us pray that in our families and all life circumstances, by the way we live, how we love, we announce to the world, “I have seen the Lord.” He is Risen indeed!