Death is a Gardener

“Death used to be an executioner, but the gospel has made him just a gardener.”

― George Herbert

    This morning, I went for a walk with the dogs. As some of you may be aware, flowers have become one of my latest obsessions. There is something so beautiful and evocative about them that I've managed to neglect most of my life. Though the world may seem dark, dreary, and doubtful, flowers still bloom full of splendor and vibrancy. Despite what others say, flowers are a sign of life, but they are also a reminder of how short life is. 

    While I sauntered through my neighborhood park, I listened to a sermon by Timothy Keller about his fears while battling his first bout with thyroid cancer. As death creeps closer with every passing day or a sudden diagnosis, our mortality reacts with panic. While death may come as a sweet relief from pain, the bitterness comes from the loss of loved ones. When we put it in those terms, love is what makes living special. 

    

    One of the greatest lyrics were written by Eden Ahbez in the 1948 song "Nature Boy," performed by Nat King Cole: 

"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return." 

    In contrast, the worst thing that could happen to a human being is to live without ever loving or being loved. Think of the flower that lives for just a moment at the peak of its beauty, with no one to admire it or recognize is majesty. They are hailed by the birds and the bees but trampled and ignored by men. So, we live on the earth for a moment until death comes to uproot us from the earth. And we fear to lose that connection with others. The hopeless thing about it is the absoluteness of that impossibility. 

    However, because of the gospel, we have a different hope. Jesus Christ, by his love, has turned the grim reaper into a gardener. Rather than cower at the hopelessness of death, we can be refreshed by the hope of new life free from pain, suffering, and anguish. Death, plants us into the ground like a seed in a casket, six feet under the earth. We are watered by the living water, which never runs dry. Then, we shall sprout and blossom in beauty and splendor, basking in the light of the Son. Will you delight in the Son?

    I look at flowers with a new appreciation. While I still admire their brilliance, I now see myself and others in them. One day, I will be buried in this earth, but blossom with outstretched arms to my light and life like they do toward our bright yellow sun. I also see them as others, who are here for a little while, with the same need to love and be loved. For every flower I acknowledge, I want to acknowledge another fellow human for their unique and brilliant design. They are worthy of as much love as all of God's other masterpieces. 

    Be encouraged to take a moment and smell the flowers. Recognize how wonderful they are and see yourself in them. You are brilliantly made and so are others around you. Regardless of their ideologies and politics, we are all planted in the same dirt, but we won't all sprout with new life. Have compassion, grace, and mercy. We love because he first loved us.