we enjoy the walk, admiring the many textures and shades of green, catching a glimpse of primula through the snow. We know this place. We've been here before.
Yet, this week, we saw something new. Hidden
beneath a shiny broad leaf, were a cluster of deep purple flowers. We stopped, stared and exclaimed, "Why haven't we seen that before?"
We came upon another exotic, like a yellow thistle without the prickly thorns.
"Never seen that either," we said to one another. "What do you suppose it is?"
As we continued to meander we took less travelled paths and saw old scenes from a different viewpoint. We saw behind the showy beds to find tiny gems in forgotten places. As we took in the gardens in a new way, our talk turned to the Scriptures, so like our walk.
We start out knowing what we'll find. We've read the familiar passages so many times. We can recite Psalm 23, and John 3:16 and Luke 2. We know the stories by heart. -- Abraham, Isaac, Joseph, Moses, David, Elijah, Jonah. Why study it yet again? We've "been there; done that."
Well, if our garden walk is anything to go by, we haven't "done that."
My friend and I have walked the Gardens in every season of the year, always discovering something marvellous. So too, as we study Scripture in the many seasons of life, we find hidden treasure, words of comfort we missed when we were young and invincible, words of wisdom we overlooked when we were set in our ways, and words of courage as we face difficult times.
Studying the stories with a colleague may show us a different viewpoint, where the old and familiar reveals something strange and new. Read them a scholar, read them with a child, the scriptures always have something new to say.
A favourite hymn for the Saanich Peninsula Hospital service is "In The Garden." It contains the line "and He walks with me and He talks with me," Perhaps scripture is that garden where we may hear God speak, as surely as He spoke in Eden.
This week, why not explore the garden God gave us? You'll be surprised.