I am so glad that the cherry trees and magnolia trees and dogwoods are blooming. I am ecstatic to see daffodils and tulips … and to trust that the azaleas and rhododendrons are on the way. I can almost taste local strawberries … ones with real flavor. And the promise of juicy tomatoes is getting closer. I can feel the dirt under my fingernails as I begin to plant in my small yard and garden. There is something both ancient and new, hopeful and earthy about planting a garden.
If you think about it, one of the first images we have in scripture is of a garden. God created humans and put them in a garden. And at the very end of the Bible, in Revelation 22, we hear a description of another beautiful garden – this one with a river flowing on and on, and the tree of life on either side, bearing fruit and offering healing for all nations. It is in our bones, our hearts, our souls to be in a garden – to be grounded in abundance. To be planted by the river of the water of life, flowing from the throne of God.
Still, we might look at our communities and this world and think, “There isn’t enough. There isn’t enough care. There is a lack of justice and empathy and hope.” We might look at our congregation and lament, “There aren’t enough resources. We have so little. What can we possibly do?” We might look at our own lives and wonder if we can make any difference at all.
But while we are holding to what little we think we have, God is busy growing and creating, bringing new life from what seemed dormant. Scripture reminds us again and again that we are planted in God’s abundant garden, even when we forget it. God provides water when we feel parched. God feeds us when we are hungry. God is ripening tomatoes right before our eyes – even as we complain about the pale and tasteless ones from the grocery store.
What a gift and promise this is – from the beginning of creation to today and into God’s future: God provides. Even when we doubt. Even when we hoard. Even when we grasp for more. God still provides. God provided clothing in the garden, manna in the desert, water from a rock, oil that didn’t run out. Jesus fed 5000, and Jesus appeared to Mary in a garden. What a generous and extravagant God.
We are truly planted in God’s abundance.
And with that promise, I invite you to come to the synod gathering on May 30 for Life in God’s Garden: Seeds of Generosity. (Learn more and get registered here: https://www.lutheransnw.org/events/synod-gathering/2026-05-30) It will be a day of learning, community, encouragement, and imagining together how we live generously for the sake of the world. For we trust that through the Spirit, God plants. God waters. God brings life. And by grace, we get to be a part of it – as people rooted in God’s garden.
Bishop Shelley Bryan Wee
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