And Make Our Gardens Grow
January 27, 2008
I felt that there was some scriptural basis here for this marvelous composition of Leonard Bernstein in "Candida," and then I came across Jeremiah 40:10 again: "...you are to harvest the wine, summer fruit and oil, and put them in your storage jars, and live in the towns you have taken over."
God is instructing His people to reject two extremes:
On one hand, they are not to be paralyzed by their regrets with regards to the past.
On the other, they are not to be lulled into lethargy awaiting eschatological hope which, while very real, is not meant to cripple our lives in the present. Rather, it is to enhance those lives.
So, we are called to do the best we can in the present. There is honor in this simple determination to live with dignity and joy. When it becomes a celebration of the life God gives and the Giver who gives it, it is also worship:
"We're neither pure, nor wise, nor good
We'll do the best we know.
We'll build our house and chop our wood
And make our garden grow.
And make our garden grow!"
Enjoy the video - that's Bernstein himself. Thanks, YOUTUBE!