Return to the Garden
After a stressful experience at the airport in Spain and having to wait an extra day to head home, choosing to watch The Secret Garden from 1993 for my in-flight movie was the perfect choice to soothe my nerves. Talk about escapism! I own this version but hadn’t seen it in quite some time, so it was sweet to revisit after all these years. I could do little to hold back the tears rolling down my cheeks.
The Secret Garden is one of my childhood favorite books, and I make no secret of the fact that it was among the key inspirations for my first book, At Ocean’s Door. I wanted to capture a similar magic that was experienced in the discovery of the secret garden with the discovery of the sea. Both elements hold strong feelings of enchantment for me.
And this version of Secret Garden captures the beauty of this timeless tale perfectly! In fact, my book is not the only thing this story has inspired, but it has inspired the garden I am currently cultivating in many ways. I mean, what child doesn’t dream of such places fit for fairies and mermaids?
But what I find most fascinating of all is God’s own preference for gardens. It was the first place He created for man to dwell in. The first occupation was Adam’s charge over the garden. Before the fall, it was no doubt all delight and little labor, as there were no thorns or thistles to frustrate his efforts, just the ability to exercise his own creativity to develop beauty in innumerable ways.
How far creation has fallen since that time. One can only wonder what matchless perfection the original garden beheld, that we try desperately to recapture. And even though it can never be so in our fallen world, our longing for heaven urges us on to continue making an attempt.
And why shouldn’t we? With so many people causing destruction and tearing things down, let the dreamers build. It’s still our job to take care of the garden that is this world, and we are each given a garden patch in some form to cultivate. It’s up to us what we choose to do with it. And while it may be tempting to closely guard our most precious creations, let’s not make it too much of a secret. The world needs more of this magic called beauty until such a time that the true garden is fully restored! 🌹
