One April day in 1912, Austin Miles, a pharmacist and publishing editor, opened his Bible to the Gospel of John Chapter 20 where the resurrected Jesus appeared to Mary as she stood at the empty tomb crying. As he read the story he seemed to be transported to that very spot as a silent witness to the actual event. He said, “I seemed to be standing at the entrance of a garden, looking down a gentle winding path,
shaded by olive branches. A woman in white, with head bowed, hand clasping her throat, as if to choke back her sobs, walked slowly into the
shadows. It was Mary, as she came unto the tomb, upon which she placed her hand, she bent over to look in and ran away.” John and Peter came to the tomb. Peter entered the tomb followed slowly by John. As they departed, Mary reappeared leaning her head upon her arm at the tomb, she wept. Turning herself, she saw Jesus standing there, so did I. It knew it was He. She knelt before Him, with arms outstretched, and looking into His face cried, “Rabboni”.
“I awakened in sunlight, gripping my Bible with my muscles tense, and nerves vibrating, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. I wrote as quickly as the words could be formed the lyrics exactly as it is sung today. That same evening, I wrote the tune. It is sung today as it was written in 1912. We know that song as “In the Garden”.
This song never uses the name “Jesus” or “God” but Christians around the world know who is referenced. The thought is of the resurrected Lord walking in a garden and talking with one of His own.
In her devotional book “GRITS-GOD REIGNS IN THE SOUTH”, Pam Morris Hanckel writes, “I often take myself to this garden. I walk with God and I talk with God. I tell Him all my problems and I ask for His guidance. I thank Him for all the blessings He has given me. He holds my hand and talks to me and I feel refreshed. I walk forward with Him confident that the way He is leading is the best. So find your own garden and take a walk with God.”
Your garden may be the flowers in your yard, a walk through the woods or by a lake, at the beach or in the mountains, looking at a beautiful sunset, or the quiet of your own house. Your garden is where you find quiet, calm, peace, beauty and the presence of God, where you can talk and listen to Him who loves you more than anyone else in all the world. Your garden is where you can say…
“He walks with me, and He talks with me, And He tells me I am His own,
And the joy we share as we tarry there None other has ever known.
In His Love, Charles
