Beauty surrounds us, but we usually need to be walking in a garden to know it - Rumi
There are so many plants, shrubs and bushes in my garden; forsythia, mahonia, primula, pieris, wallflowers, roses and camellia, to name but a few. Each has a specific form and function; the butterflies swarm to the buddleia bushes but ignore others, for example, whilst the birds happily devour the berries on the firethorn at autumn time. Each is a work of art in itself but taken together as a whole picture, the effect of all these diverse plants is truly stunning. Now, I am not an expert gardener so the beauty of God’s Creation in a few square feet of my garden must be His work! Thanks be to God.
In the same way, God has given us humans a variety of roles to play as individuals and in society. As St Paul explains in his letter to the Romans (12:4-6): 4 For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. The point I want to make here is “though many, [we] form one body, and each member belongs to all the others”. Whilst we are individually called to do God’s work here on earth, using the different gifts we have been given, we are also called to work together. That way we can achieve so much more for Him. Like the plants each of us is a wondrous work of art, delicately formed by our Creator, and as individuals we can achieve quite a lot, but when we work together the effect can be truly amazing. Let us then unite to praise God, to express our gratitude to Him for the wonders of his Creation and to work together for His purpose. And don’t forget that Jesus said: ‘For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them’ Matthew 18:20(NIV). We are not solitary plants in the garden for Jesus is with us.
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AuthorI am an Authorised Local Preacher in an Anglo Catholic parish church, in the Diocese of Essex UK Archives
February 2022
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