The Magnificent Honeysuckle Vine

In my opinion, the honeysuckle vine is one of the world's prettiest flowers. This week, this beautiful and relatively unknown flower species opened in the Gethsemane Prayer Garden. As a result, I felt led to share this writing about this most ornate flower, as taken from my book A Garden of Love.


Peace Outstanding! I am so captivated by this most intricate and lovely vine. Do you see the little two-inch long pink trumpets? I can imagine hearing them boldly declare their warmest greeting, "Enter, for the Lord is in this place, offering peace to you!" As Paul wrote many times in his epistles, "May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace" (Ephesians 1:2).

One of the loveliest of the newer plants to be introduced in many years is the ornate trumpet honeysuckle vine, hybridized with other twining honeysuckles to create a flower of immense beauty. Elongated tubes of either rosy-pink or pastel-orange are offset with a soft cream colored throat, more intricate than any glass blower could prepare. The stamen protrudes in an extended form from the trumpet-shaped throat in hopes of luring a passing insect as an open invitation for pollination. The many trumpets seem to be calling out to both the insect and the garden visitor, "Come and enter in, welcome to a special place, a place of new beginnings, a place of satisfaction and peace."

All of the varieties of honeysuckle vines grow tall, often up to twenty or twenty-five feet, as they search for full sun on a strong supporting structure. Some vines are more fragrant than others – the European honeysuckle is considered the sweetest. The hummingbirds with their long needle-like beak seem to particularly enjoy the nectar from all the twining honeysuckles vines, darting from flower to flower, from cluster to cluster.

If the honeysuckle vine is positioned at the entrance to the garden, the trumpet-shaped flowers seem to herald the visitor, "You are about to enter a most special place." In some ways this is reminiscent of the armies of angels at the birth of Jesus, "praising God and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased'" (Luke 2:13, 14). The peace and presence of our Lord is in the garden.

Jesus came to earth to give a gift of peace, and his expectation was and is that the gift would be used. "I am leaving you with a gift – peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid" (John 14:27). Then, only a few days later, that gift was received.

"'Peace be with you,' he said. As he spoke, he showed them the wounds in his hands and his side. They were filled with joy when they saw the Lord! Again he said,'Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.' Then he breathed on them and said, 'Receive the Holy Spirit'" (John 20:19-22).

These verses indicate that the gift of the Holy Spirit is a gift of peace. Many times the Scriptures associate the Holy Spirit with power – the power of supernatural healing, for example. Here, however, the peace that the Holy Spirit brings is peace of mind and heart in oneness with God – this deep fellowship is one that is immersed in love.

"Be joyful. Grow to maturity. Encourage each other. Live in harmony and peace. Then the God of love and peace will be with you" (2 Corinthians 13:11).


Copyright © 2009 Bible Discernments. Excerpt from A Garden of Love by Thomas B. Clarke, a gift book about love for anyone that enjoys flowers.A Garden of Love is available on Amazon as well as at www.agardenoflove.com.

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End Note: The overall theme for this series of articles is flowers and plants, showing how they point to love. Sometimes I write 'how to' do something, other times the emphasis is a status update, or the article will be about how a plant or flower touched my heart. All of these writings are based on plants from the Gethsemane Prayer Garden in Syracuse, NY. Please consider some of the other blog articles: Index of Articles About the Gethsemane Prayer Garden.

The Lovely Wood Hyacinth: Joy or Disappointment?

I was surprised as I walked into the Gethsemane Prayer Garden – Tuesday had been a hot, sweltering day and now the temperatures had just begun to drop. On the south side of the garden, a small but lusciously harmonic collection of wood hyacinth had been in full bloom on Saturday, and I had intended to show our volunteer staff their beauty.

My surprise was what happened from Saturday until Tuesday. The temperatures had soared into the 90's, which for late May in our area is not common. The National Weather Service announced that record temperatures were recorded in several of the surrounding cities, and the humidity was very oppressive. My shock was that the flowers had expired. Gone! A tiny bit of light blue on a couple of the stalks, but pretty much all of them had gone to seed.

That was two weeks ago; a similar event happened this week as the temperatures again reached into the 90's. The deep purple columbine had been in full blossom at the end of May, as described in my previous blog about Contentment. The stress of this latest heat-spell had caused many of these beauties to look far less than content, as many of their petals had dropped onto the dark brown mulch.

One lady expressed her disappointment that the heat would cause such a sudden change in the garden, so I attempted to console her. Our beautiful 'Bonica' roses usually do not open until around Father's Day, about ten days away. This year, by the end of this surge of heat and humidity, these exhilarating pink blossoms will begin to reveal the fullness of their beauty. Likewise, the deep purple bellflower (many call them Campanula) will open early this year with their soft and gentle blossoms. I explained to her that the intense heat brings both its disappointments and its joys.

Stress in the garden brings about change, having both negative and positive effects. Stress in life also brings about change. Sometimes in life we dwell on those things that we are giving up; the wood hyacinth flowers no longer blossom or our last child moves out of the home for a new season in his or her life. It is often hard to give up those things that we love and have become so accustomed to. Very hard. Stress also has its positive aspects but we often can't deal with it because we don't want to give up our past.

Our spouse disappoints us (again); our work situation suddenly ends; a parent or other family member dies; a tragedy hits our home. Sometimes all hope seems to be gone and we cannot endure any further.

The daffodils and tulips in the garden would not be possible without the stress of winter. The yellow, orange and red foliage in the fall only comes after the stress of cooler nights and shorter days. Soon after the fall leaves hit the ground, the barrenness can be thought of as either the beauty that was lost or the colors that will come.

I can't change the weather and neither can you. I can't make the drought have thirst quenching rain. I can't cause the damaging effects of a hailstorm to go away. I have to accept them and to hope for something positive to come out of the trials.

All of us have a little bit of 'Elijah syndrome' within us, wanting to call out to God for a change in the weather. He spoke the word and there was no dew or rain for four years; he spoke the word again and a great rain fell on the land (I Kings 17-18). Remember, it was God, not Elijah, that brought the drought and then brought the drenching rain; Elijah only spoke what he prophetically saw. Elijah did not command the stress, but his word was reliable because of his relationship with God. It was God that was using the stress of the weather to bring about a change in Israel.

Our responsibility? Give up and let God.

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End Note: The overall theme for this series of articles is flowers and plants, showing how they point to love. Sometimes I write 'how to' do something, other times the emphasis is a status update, or the article will be about how a plant or flower touched my heart. All of these writings are based on plants from the Gethsemane Prayer Garden in Syracuse, NY. Please consider some of the other blog articles: Index of Articles About the Gethsemane Prayer Garden.

Columbine's Contentment

"Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities, all is vanity," (Ecclesiastes 1:2 ESV).

I have been challenged by Ecclesiastes for the last two weeks. Why do I work so hard? In the next verse, Solomon asks the very pointed question, "What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?"

The answer, I believe, comes in the form of contentment. Possibly you can relate to this same struggle.

I have strong work-alcoholic tendencies, finding myself buried in all sorts of busyness. No longer do I work long hours at my professional job – I've moved into semi-retirement, working there on Monday through Wednesday – and yet I very much fill my days and evenings. I am also the caretaker of our church's prayer garden, and the author/publisher of three books with more on the way. I'm trying to learn Hebrew, several challenging software products, and keep up with work at home. I wake up early and go to bed late, do not waste my time with television because I am far too interested in other things. And then there is my marriage – we need to spend more time together.

Possibly you know someone who has similar tendencies. Possibly this is, to some extent, a profile of yourself.

Solomon had tremendous wisdom and wealth, and yet he basically said, "So what?" Why have all this wisdom and yet have it wasted? What good was all the wealth that he accumulated? And he was right because his legacy was wasted on kings that spoiled what he created.

I mentioned that I am the caretaker of my church's prayer garden. While we have a volunteer staff that helps with this work, primary responsibility falls on me when work has to be done and some people do not show up. There was a wedding last Saturday in the garden, requiring all the preparation work to be done in a quality manner. What bride would want weeds to symbolize the partnership that she is stepping into? The work had to be finished.

There is an abundance of deep-purple columbine that are currently flowering in this garden. The marriage ceremony was conducted adjacent to a large grouping of them. Over the years, I have scattered the columbine seeds in various areas to promote an exhilarating richness over several of the flower beds. The effect is both breath-taking and relaxing.

In my book A Garden of Love, I associated these beautiful columbine with "Kindness", but I think I should have chosen "Contentment" instead. Here, in the depth of a garden where I toil for others to enjoy, I found a peace that too often alludes me. Solomon, after writing his famous monologue about "A time to be born, and a time to die, … " (Eccl 3:2-8), went back to his question about toil. "I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil – that is God's gift to man." (Eccl 3:12, 13)

The columbine flowers point downwards, not looking at the sky as many flowers tend to do, content to show their beauty to those that will find the time to discover them. More than masses of purple royalty, I had to get on the ground to enjoy them. I had to put aside my other agenda, to take the time to appreciate my toil. I had to be shown this gift that came from God; I only scattered the seed.

Why do I toil as I do? I believe God is saying to me, "To experience, to take time to enjoy, to hold dear and precious, to allow love to touch my heart and then to share that touch with others." This is my contentment.

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End Note: The overall theme for this series of articles is flowers and plants, showing how they point to love. Sometimes I write 'how to' do something, other times the emphasis is a status update, or the article will be about how a plant or flower touched my heart. All of these writings are based on plants from the Gethsemane Prayer Garden in Syracuse, NY. Please consider some of the other blog articles: Index of Articles About the Gethsemane Prayer Garden.

Spring in the Gethsemane Prayer Garden

Have you ever visited a prayer garden? In Syracuse, New York, a garden is open to the public based on the words from Matthew 11:28, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." We have named it Gethsemane Prayer Garden based on the location in Jerusalem where Jesus modeled his personal prayer.

Nearly an acre in size, this garden is maintained by the congregation of Faith Chapel as an outdoor sanctuary and a place to experience God and His love. There are 50 perennial flower varieties and several hundred shrubs and trees; benches are available for a quiet time with the Lord.

As caretaker of this garden, I extend my personal invitation to you to visit this garden. Syracuse is located at the crossroads of I-90 and I-81, so if you are traveling from the mid-west to New England, Syracuse is a good stopping place. And if you live in Pennsylvania or Maryland and are traveling towards Montreal, please pay us a visit.

A review of each month's flowers with photos is available at www.prayergardeners.com/gethsemane/index.html. Here is the excerpt for May:

While April was predominantly a display of yellow-flowered beauties, May turns the hue to a wonderful display of blue tones. Some of the yellow daffodils can hang on for the earlier part of the month, but soon the lusciously sweet and delicate forget-me-not blooms begin filling the garden. The dark blue grape hyacinth display their colors for a few weeks, and a few straglers may be found in unexpected places around the garden.

By mid-May, the columbine begin opening – we have selected a dark blue variety that self-seeds beautifully. And then towards the end of the month, Jacob's ladder again repeats the blue theme as it appears near the center of the garden.

Also in May, the marsh marigolds continue their display for the first two weeks; they are a native plant in this part of the country, and we have relocated many from downstream locations where they were hidden from view. Georgeous pink, red and white bleeding hearts appear for too short of a time.

The leaves on the trees typically open in May, with their soft green colors that will turn more robust by mid-summer. The dappled willow is a special treat, unexpectedly demonstrating a soft pink or light orange color in late May and early June. And the weeping copper beech can be found hovering over the garden in all of its majesty – this tall, slender and weeping beauty symbolizes both our strength in Christ and the humility and grace clothed in this purple clad tree.

We hope to see you this year.

Tom Clarke, Caretaker of the Gethsemane Prayer Garden
and author of "A Garden of Love" www.agardenoflove.com, a look at love as based on the flowers in this garden

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End Note: The overall theme for this series of articles is flowers and plants, showing how they point to love. Sometimes I write 'how to' do something, other times the emphasis is a status update, or the article will be about how a plant or flower touched my heart. All of these writings are based on plants from the Gethsemane Prayer Garden in Syracuse, NY. Please consider some of the other blog articles: Index of Articles About the Gethsemane Prayer Garden.

Spring: A Season of Contrasts

Maybe not so much in southern climates of the USA, but in the north, spring is a time of dramatic change. The weather, changing from slushy days and left-over snow to golf cart days and opening swimming pools, is just one contrast. Temperatures can sore one day to the 70's or low 80's, and then plummet to wet and rainy and even a blustery cold snow-filled days in just a few hours. All this necessary for our Lord to usher us from the bitter winter winds to the dog days of summer.

Iris Godfrey, director of Psalm 19 Ministries, correctly points out that God's plans are not linear but cyclical. The linear view, which many subscribe to, suggests a theme of creation to finality with a bunch of stuff in between; rather, our God takes us cyclically through a helix that is ever-moving forward – like a "Slinky" that is stretched out. The earth rotates every 24 hours, morning to night and then night to morning in a cyclical way, never able to return to where it was. In the same way, the earth rotates around the sun on a slightly tipped axis so that the southern hemisphere has summer while the north freezes, and then six months later it is all reversed.

As I worked last night in the Gethsemane Prayer Garden with two volunteer friends, Bill and Cindy, the contrast was most apparent. Our goal was to clean-up the largest of the nine flower beds in preparation for the new spring growth. The Russian sage with rambling silver-colored branches were cut at ground level. Likewise, the lily, iris, daisy, cat mint, ornamental grass and other flowers were cut back so that the emerging new growth would appear. It was a time of contrasts: last year's growth had all died and needed to be removed so that the beauty of this year's new growth could begin. The flowered area, now cleaned up, looked tremendously different.

In this flower bed, a number of arborvitae had been planted that would eventually grow and become part of a visual screen that protects the garden from the parking lot. Some of the arborvitae had been protected with bird netting, the same type that is used on fruit trees to keep the birds away; and some were unprotected. Again the contrast was most apparent: what had been protected was beautiful when unwrapped, but what had been devoured by the deer had to be either cut back severely or removed. It was like a transformation right before our eyes: the bed had looked damaged and uninviting, but now it is a fresh welcome to the garden visitor.

As gardener and writer Alan Lacy states, our purpose should be to create "An Inviting Garden". There is still much to do in the garden, but last night's efforts made a significant headway as we head into a season of God's beauty beheld in His magnificent flowers and His love.

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End Note: The overall theme for this series of articles is flowers and plants, showing how they point to love. Sometimes I write 'how to' do something, other times the emphasis is a status update, or the article will be about how a plant or flower touched my heart. All of these writings are based on plants from the Gethsemane Prayer Garden in Syracuse, NY. Please consider some of the other blog articles: Index of Articles About the Gethsemane Prayer Garden.

Early Spring in the Prayer Garden

It was a sunny but cool day in the Gethsemane Prayer Garden today. This was my first chance to work in the garden since the sudden snows arrived on December 3rd. And if you are from this area, you know that the snows never left until mid-March.

The garden looked good as the primrose were just starting to blossom and the daffodils were peaking their little green tips, possibly two or four inches high. Its hard to identify the plants this time of year unless you know what is planted where. I found some pretty reddish-purple tips of the bellflower just where they had mostly died off in previous years. I'm encouraged that they're coming back – in time, they will grow stems and leaf out, but for now they are just barely visible to the eye.

The biggest struggle this winter was the deer. Other years, we have never had deer in the garden over the winter; the sudden heavy snow in December caught us by surprise so we did not have time to wrap some of the trees and shrubs. By the time we got out to protect them on December 31st, some of the arborvitae and a real nice columnar pine were chewed right down. We also had damage to some hemlocks which I did not expect at all.

There are several hundred shrubs and trees in the garden and most of them did not get touched by the deer. Our predominate evergreens are junipers of all sorts which the deer did not devour. I enjoy the many various shapes and colors of junipers, some tall and upright, some low and spreading, and many assorted shapes in between. We use them to provide screening from the parking lot which can be busy at times, and to provide private areas within the garden for speaking with God.

The soft stone-dust pathways were a mess when I got there today. The deer had been generous in eating on one side of their body and dropping the digested portions out the other side. Also, plant debris from trees and flowers had blown onto the path so it really looked rough. It always amazes me how much better the garden looks when the walkways are raked this way – inviting us to walk where we want and enjoy our time with the Lord.

As Jesus said to his disciples, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you" (John 20:21).

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End Note: The overall theme for this series of articles is flowers and plants, showing how they point to love. Sometimes I write 'how to' do something, other times the emphasis is a status update, or the article will be about how a plant or flower touched my heart. All of these writings are based on plants from the Gethsemane Prayer Garden in Syracuse, NY. Please consider some of the other blog articles: Index of Articles About the Gethsemane Prayer Garden.

The Pin Oak in Autumn

In 2006, we planted a 15-foot pin oak in the Gethsemane Prayer Garden in recognition of the Founding Pastor J. Lee Simmons. The tree was presented as a living memorial by the first graduating class of the Living Faith School of Ministry. It was a beautiful tree then, and is an even more beautiful tree today standing at 22- feet tall. While the leaves on some pin oaks are deep red in autumn, this one has a very attractive orange color that compliments the yellows, reds, and purples that are prevalent this time of year.

The soil in our area is heavily laden with limestone, which means that the pH is very high, around 7.3 or so. Oaks typically require a low pH such as 6.0, so we had to make some drastic adjustments. First came the backhoe that dug a hole 4-6 feet deep and 18 feet wide. We brought in 40 yds of lower pH soil which we mounded three feet above the ground level. As the soil was placed, we spread 8 pounds of sulfur acidifier into the soil to help reduce yellowing of the tree (iron chlorosis). We did not use aluminum sulfate, as some are prone to do, because of the long-term toxicity of aluminum to the oak. The tree was planted in the center of that mound.

Why the oak? Pastor Simmons has stated that the pin oak is his favorite tree, partly in memory of his childhood near Philadelphia, and partly because of what Isaiah wrote, "They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor" (Isaiah 61:3).

In Luke 4:18-19, Jesus states that he is the fulfillment of Isaiah 61, "... the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor ..." Jesus, in his grace to the downtrodden, is to bind up the brokenhearted, free the captives, release the prisoners, and comfort those who mourn. The effect is that these otherwise hopeless people will become like oaks of righteousness. Therefore, the oak with its strength, size, and beauty, represents the how these people have changed, a "display of his splendor."

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End Note: The overall theme for this series of articles is flowers and plants, showing how they point to love. Sometimes I write 'how to' do something, other times the emphasis is a status update, or the article will be about how a plant or flower touched my heart. All of these writings are based on plants from the Gethsemane Prayer Garden in Syracuse, NY. Please consider some of the other blog articles: Index of Articles About the Gethsemane Prayer Garden.

Listen and Heal Ministry's Prayer Garden

As the caretaker of the Gethsemane Prayer Garden at Faith Chapel in Syracuse, NY, it was with a great deal of interest that I learned of another prayer garden in our area. The founding pastor of my church had sent me a Facebook posting that this dedication was to take place on October 3rd. So today, my wife and I drove to Canastota for the dedication of this new prayer garden at Believer's Chapel.

What I saw was a wonderful new beginning of a garden for those wounded in life, a place of rest and recovery. Many from this church had helped construct this garden that began construction in May. The dedication's program identifies forty-six people that helped in one way or another, all under the direction of a visionary named Bonnie Caswell.

The garden was developed by Listen and Heal, a ministry that focuses on hope and healing, offering a way for people to stand together and start healing from the wound caused by abortion. More about that ministry may be seen at Listen and Heal.

The dedication tickled my heart – a woman with no landscaping experience was led by the Lord to build the vision. Being at truly charismatic person, she assembled many people from her church and the surrounding area to help put together this first phase of their work. The dedication was a fun-filled reminder of the hard work by everyone.

A gazebo is the center of the garden with paths throughout the garden. A number of ceramic statues are carefully placed around the garden to help remind us of our purpose in visiting there. The flower beds are small, but that will likely change as the garden grows in subsequent years. Clearly the garden is a labor of love.

But developing a garden is different from maintaining a garden. Before I even saw "The Garden of Grace", I was reminded of Joshua 24. Here, Joshua stated the often quoted verse, "But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord." (v 15). But Joshua knew the hearts of the people, so he accused them of not being able to serve the Lord. Three times, the people vowed their service and obedience to the Lord: "We too will serve the Lord, because he is our God" (v 18), "No! We will serve the Lord." (v 21), and "We will serve the Lord our God and obey him." (v24). Yet a quick look at the book of Judges shows that they did not live up to their vow.

I believe that this story of Joshua and the people is related to "The Garden of Grace" in that Joshua had just taken over the majority of Israel and had assembled all of the people at Shechem. In a sense, it is similar to this celebration that happened today. Now the Israelites had to develop and maintain the land, and so it is with this garden. It seems that people often drift off to other areas of interest once the mountain has been conquered. What the leaders of Israel (if there were any leaders at all) failed to do was hold the people accountable to their vow. The vision that Moses and Joshua were given for the land was not to be forsaken.

Maintenance work for a garden can be considered drudgery by many. The goal is established in the beginning, the enthusiasm builds as the vision takes place, and then the celebration takes place when the first phase is completed. But then the winter sets in and the on-going weeding and care can become tedious in the spring. Somehow the negative momentum must be overcome.

The solution lies with community involvement, continuing the enthusiasm, and keeping an eye on quality. Where I was the lone caretaker of a much larger garden for many years, it became apparent to many that the joy had to be shared. Soon people were calling it "Tom's garden" when it was really the church's garden, and that was not good. This year, by the grace of God, we have had fifty people help out as volunteers, each one assigned to just two or three hours per month. Under my direction as the caretaker, the congregation came to understand what an effort the maintenance work had become.

The visionary has the responsibility for maintaining the enthusiasm. As caretaker of the Gethsemane Prayer Garden, I attempt to encourage everyone that helps, and that is part of my job. But the real visionary for this garden is the founding pastor, J. Lee Simmons. I am so grateful that this Barnabas is part of my life as he encouraged me and the others with all of the enthusiasm that he carries with him.

Quality is a subtle but essential aspect of a garden. When people come to visit, I have learned that piles of mulch or open trenches or obvious weeds or unkempt lawn can severely distract a person. That is true of the garden helper, and that is true of the person visiting for the first time. One of the more subtle aspects of quality is the walkways. It intrigues me every time someone rakes the walks in our garden, removing the mulch that has spread onto the soft stone dust and removes the weeds and leaves that may have accumulated – each time this maintenance work is done, the garden suddenly looks far better. It is just like walking into a woman's kitchen to see litter on the floor – the sweeping of the floor helps immensely.

I truly hope that "The Garden of Grace" continues to develop and be maintained properly. It has a lot of potential: shade trees are needed, more flowers will help usher the sense of grace in the garden, and visual protection from the street will help give the garden a greater appearance of intimacy. Considering what was done in the first year, it is a great start. Our garden at Faith Chapel does not look at all like what it did in 2003 because that too is part of keeping the vision alive. I wish them well.

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End Note: The overall theme for this series of articles is flowers and plants, showing how they point to love. Sometimes I write 'how to' do something, other times the emphasis is a status update, or the article will be about how a plant or flower touched my heart. All of these writings are based on plants from the Gethsemane Prayer Garden in Syracuse, NY. Please consider some of the other blog articles: Index of Articles About the Gethsemane Prayer Garden.

Psalm 63 Applied to Gethsemane Prayer Garden

There have been times when I've received questions something like, "This garden is beautiful, but why a 'Prayer Garden'?" Honestly, I have pondered that myself. Yet part of me wonders if they have experienced the garden, not just a lovely walk through the flowers. There is a peace, a serenity, in this garden. Psalm 63 begins,

O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you,
in a dry and weary land where there is no water. (Psalm 63:1 NIV)

There is so much spiritual dryness in our stores, our schools, our places of employment, our roadways, our government, our neighborhoods, and sometimes even our houses. In response, we open our Bibles for a spiritual retreat, or turn on some wonderful worship music, or diligently seek our Lord in our prayer closet. David said it very succinctly, "my soul thirsts for you."

To me and to others, the Gethsemane Prayer Garden is more like a sanctuary than just a pretty garden. David continued in the second verse,

I have seen you in the sanctuary
and beheld your power and your glory. (Psalm 63:2 NIV)

Truly, we don't need a prayer garden to experience God's power and glory – after all, David is reported to have been in the Judean Desert when he wrote these words, a land parched with just inches of rain in a year. Yet in the same way that David found a personal sanctuary in the desert, so this garden is offered as a sanctuary in a spiritual desert. The flowers help remind us that this is a special place, a meeting place with God.

Because your love is better than life,
my lips will glorify you. (Psalm 63:3 NIV)

In the second verse, David was experiencing God's glory; now, in verse 3, David's presence with God's love has enabled him to turn this glory back to God. That's what this outdoor sanctuary can do: get our eyes off of the desert, get our eyes off of ourselves, and then give the glory back to our loving Lord.

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End Note: The overall theme for this series of articles is flowers and plants, showing how they point to love. Sometimes I write 'how to' do something, other times the emphasis is a status update, or the article will be about how a plant or flower touched my heart. All of these writings are based on plants from the Gethsemane Prayer Garden in Syracuse, NY. Please consider some of the other blog articles: Index of Articles About the Gethsemane Prayer Garden.

A Visitor to the Prayer Garden

I will call her Helen but that is not her real name. She stopped her car behind mine as we were about to begin work in the garden. Visibly crying, she mumbled, "I'm just going in the garden for a while."

That, I thought to myself, is what this garden is all about. We all can have difficult times in life, be challenged in some way, or hurt by words or actions that come to us as a huge offense. This garden is a refuge, a place of recovery, a place of solitude, and a place to ask our Lord for some help.

While I am the caretaker of the Gethsemane Prayer Garden, I can no longer do all the work myself. We schedule Tuesday and Thursday evenings, 6PM to dark, and Saturdays from 9AM to noon to help with the garden chores. In August, there are 30 of us that are scheduled to work, and each person is assigned to one of those Tuesday, Thursday or Saturday slots. In addition, if people just want to stop by to help, they are certainly encouraged to do so.

A lady that I will call Linda was one of our workers tonight. When she saw Helen go crying into the garden, she asked me if she should go comfort her. "Of course!!" I replied.

Linda talked with Helen for a while and then left her alone. Ten minutes later, a changed woman came out of the garden. She asked what we were doing, to which I explained we were straightening out the edge of one of the berms. Soon Linda and Helen were working side by side, sister next to sister, laughing and listening to each other.

Tonight I saw an event that should be a pattern in our Christian walk. One person, reaching out to the Lord for help, and another person reaching out to the hurt one. I believe it was an appointment that was orchestrated by God.

If you are looking for a refuge, a place where you want to seek the Lord, please know that the Gethsemane Prayer Garden in Syracuse NY is open and available for you. The address is Faith Chapel, 4113 West Seneca Turnpike, Syracuse, NY. For details about the garden, see Gethsemane Prayer Garden.

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End Note: The overall theme for this series of articles is flowers and plants, showing how they point to love. Sometimes I write 'how to' do something, other times the emphasis is a status update, or the article will be about how a plant or flower touched my heart. All of these writings are based on plants from the Gethsemane Prayer Garden in Syracuse, NY. Please consider some of the other blog articles: Index of Articles About the Gethsemane Prayer Garden.

The Poison Ivy Fight

There is a small stream at the far end of the Gethsemane Prayer Garden where I and many others just enjoy sitting. Unlike the more heavily flowered sections of the main garden, this shaded area is beautiful in its own forested way. But it is not beauty that I seek here, but tranquility – peace from the rest of the world, left to dream and let my thoughts go from excitement to quietness.

There is a bench next to the lawn that looks over this area. I sit there, oftentimes not long enough because I have other work in the garden that must be done. And sometimes I get up because I see some of that dreaded poison ivy on the ground in front of me.

Many black willows protect this area from the heat of the day, but also give the birds a place where they can eat their food. Sometimes their food is the berry from the poison ivy, yet they spit out the seeds to the lightly mulched ground below.

The battle never seems to end with the poison ivy. I use the Round-Up that is labeled "Poison Ivy" because it is more powerful than normal Round-Up. The oil that is on the top of the poison ivy leaves are not permeable by the normal Round-Up that most people buy. I use the "Poison Ivy" bottle so it will cut through that oil and allows the other chemicals to work. Many times I must apply a second coating a few days later because it has not killed it all.

On that day, poison ivy was the distraction that took me away from the tranquility. It could have been a loud noise, a person walking nearby, or just some random thought that passed through my head. But I know this, "God wants to return us to that place of tranquility and rest. The poison ivy events can come and go, but awareness of God's presence is where we find the depth of His love."

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End Note: The overall theme for this series of articles is flowers and plants, showing how they point to love. Sometimes I write 'how to' do something, other times the emphasis is a status update, or the article will be about how a plant or flower touched my heart. All of these writings are based on plants from the Gethsemane Prayer Garden in Syracuse, NY. Please consider some of the other blog articles: Index of Articles About the Gethsemane Prayer Garden.

A Daisy-Like Flower Bed in Memory of Gino

I must admit that I am not much of a fan of the color yellow in a meditative garden. Long and hard I have put off the urging of others to add yellow to our otherwise softer colors of pink, purple, white, blue, red, etc. To me, if we are to be listening for the voice of God, we should be still, or as least not excited – and that is what yellow can do, excite us, or at least it excites my thoughts.

I have a number of yellow flowers around my house, and we have yellow potentilla and yellow lilies around the church building, but not so much in the Prayer Garden. Even when I selected daisies for the garden two years ago, I purchased the shaggy ones that don't have a yellow center. I'm not against yellow per se, I just want us to have that experience with the Lord.

But this year it has changed. Thanks to a $125 donation to the garden in memory of a man named Gino, his mother and I both felt that it would be best to remember him with daisies. Actually we planted a daisy-like bed that includes various types of daisies as well as other flowers such as white coneflowers, light yellow coreopsis, spurge, and a dash of Gaillardia (blanket flower).

Then a $50 donation came in for some yellow roses, and these were planted adjacent to the daisy-like bed. I selected the light colored yellow 'Knock Out' rose that is very disease resistant. Due to the summer heat, all of the flowers had died off at the nursery where I purchased them. Yesterday I noticed that one new bud has just opened and the colors go very well with the various white and yellow flowers in the adjacent bed.

I can't explain why I have now allowed yellow when I was so fanatical in other years. This newest bed is in an area that is somewhat isolated from the rest of the garden, and is visible from only one of the benches. Yet there is enough white in this flower bed along with softer yellow tones that the combined daisies and roses look very good. Will it disrupt hearing God's voice or sensing His peace and love? I don't know, but time will tell.

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End Note: The overall theme for this series of articles is flowers and plants, showing how they point to love. Sometimes I write 'how to' do something, other times the emphasis is a status update, or the article will be about how a plant or flower touched my heart. All of these writings are based on plants from the Gethsemane Prayer Garden in Syracuse, NY. Please consider some of the other blog articles: Index of Articles About the Gethsemane Prayer Garden.

The Beautiful 'Bonica' Roses

In June, the roses in Central New York come into their glory. Whatever the type, hybrid or not, roses seem to peak around Father's Day each year. Some last until the first heavy freeze, while others last just a few weeks. But it seems appropriate that the rose, in some ways representing the deep and profound love between God the Father and Christ the Son, would be seen best at Father's Day.

As Caretaker of the Gethsemane Prayer Garden at Faith Chapel, I often have the opportunity to tell and show people about how the flowers can take on special meanings. Many times, people encouraged me to write this down, so finally in the fall of 2009, I wrote "A Garden of Love." The following is an excerpt from that book which uses the 'Bonica' rose for its subject:

Oh the exquisite rose! I take such pleasure in how the hue changes on each flower as it matures – intense colors when they first open, leading to muted but still beautiful tones over time. Through the rose, possibly more than with any other flowers, God's awesome love extends, reveals, and touches us in greater intimacy with him.

The Jackson-Perkins catalog describes their roses as stunning, striking, luscious, fragrant, elegant, graceful, dramatic, captivating, fabulous, vibrant, exceptional, long-lasting, delightful, and irresistible. These same words could be applied even more to Jesus.

The roses are the stunning centerpiece of the garden: the pink ones remind us of his softness and gentleness; the white ones bring to mind his purity and elegance; and the red roses remind us of his unfailing love for us. Our perfect rose, "crucified in weakness" (2 Cor 13:4), without spot or blemish, was jeered at, mocked, beaten, flogged, and tortured. He loves us that much.

He is also loved by his Father that much. Immediately after Jesus was baptized, a voice from heaven said, "This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy" (Matthew 3:17). The same words were spoken at the Mount of Transfiguration where Peter, James, and John heard God's voice from a bright cloud: "This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy. Listen to him" (Matthew 17:5). God spoke of his great love of Jesus, his Son. Here are some other verses to consider:

"The Father loves the Son and shows him everything he is doing" (John 5:20).

"The Father loves me because I sacrifice my life so I may take it back again. No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again. For this is what my Father has commanded" (John 10:17,18).

[Father,] "you and I are one – as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. … you loved me even before the world began!" (John 17:21,24).

Collectively, these verses assure us of the true and deeply intimate love relationship between God the Father and Christ the Son, even before the world began. The love relationship that was established between God and his people began as he created the world – the profound love between God and his Son began even before that.

Love is contagious – this love does not end with the Father / Son, for it includes us:

[Father,] "I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one. I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me" (John 17:22,23).

Bob Sorge, in his marvelous book "The Fire of God's Love," describes God's love:

The most sublime theme in all of Scripture is the love of God. There is nothing higher or nobler toward which we can direct our meditation. God's love is altogether wonderful, beyond our complete comprehension, and entirely inexhaustible in its scope and intensity.

Many of the attributes of the rose help remind us of these same attributes in Jesus. He is infectiously beautiful and his love is contagious beyond all measure. His love is profuse and his love is profound.


Copyright © 2009 Bible Discernments

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End Note: The overall theme for this series of articles is flowers and plants, showing how they point to love. Sometimes I write 'how to' do something, other times the emphasis is a status update, or the article will be about how a plant or flower touched my heart. All of these writings are based on plants from the Gethsemane Prayer Garden in Syracuse, NY. Please consider some of the other blog articles: Index of Articles About the Gethsemane Prayer Garden.

The Start of the Gethsemane Prayer Garden

The Gethsemane Prayer Garden was first envisioned independently in 1999 by two people: Pastor Lee Simmons, founding pastor of Faith Chapel, and Alice Soule, a member of the church body. The garden was seen to be a quiet place of refuge and peace; a place similar to the garden in Jerusalem where Jesus offered his cup before the Lord in prayer; a place to have an encounter with the Lord.

Four years later, under the direction of Pastor Lee Simmons, the garden began development as a result of an initial bereavement gift. First, the gentle 'Bonica' roses were added, followed in subsequent years with a stone altar, then several privacy berms, the addition of a trellis, and finally the relocation of a large number of shrubs and trees. As each area was developed and as finance permitted, perennials were brought in and walkways were added to create a cohesive and flowing effect.

Today, this two-acre site has expanded to include twelve beds (12,000 sq. ft.), sixty perennial flower varieties, and several hundred shrubs and trees from forty species and subspecies. This prayer garden is open to the public and has no admission fee. While this garden presents the beauty of the landscape, many have commented on the serene peace that this garden offers.

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End Note: The overall theme for this series of articles is flowers and plants, showing how they point to love. Sometimes I write 'how to' do something, other times the emphasis is a status update, or the article will be about how a plant or flower touched my heart. All of these writings are based on plants from the Gethsemane Prayer Garden in Syracuse, NY. Please consider some of the other blog articles: Index of Articles About the Gethsemane Prayer Garden.