Escape to the Garden

“Escape to the Garden”
Let not your heart be troubled; Ye believe in God, believe also in me… With these words Jesus began one of His greatest messages. It has been coined His farewell address and rightly so, for it was here that He takes His disciples from prophecy to exhortation, to a prayer of protection. After passing the mantle of oversight to the Father above, the weight of what He was destined for was lain squarely upon His shoulders. When Jesus had spoken these words, He went forth with His disciples over the brook Kidron where there was a garden. In the mountains of Virginia atop one of the Appalachians, stands the manor of Thomas Jefferson. He named it Monticello for it was a “little mountain” to him. The state of Virginia preserves the estate today in pristine condition. Entering the front door you see so much of the personality of Mr. Jefferson. Although he is remembered as a statesman, it becomes clear that he was an inventor at heart. In the magnificent entry stands a clock that not only kept the time, but by his invention kept the day of the week. He also by his intuitiveness devised a way to connect the wind-ward above the house measuring the direction of the wind to a ceiling instrument beneath. The walls were lined with intricate maps. Through his study other inventions are revealed. The first duplicator ever used that consisted to pulleys and rods that mimic the movement of the writer’s hand. From the parlor to the dining room, from the kitchen to the bedrooms, each place had his signature of inventive thinking. The kitchen was in the basement and connected to it was a tunnel. This tunnel ran the entire length of the home place and was the entry for the servants. At one end a pebbled walkway winds a course through the surrounding foliage, eventually leading to a garden. This peaceful escape was the personal expression of Mr. Jefferson. His hands designed every pathway. He spent hours snipping each hedgerow, planting and cultivating until he reached the desired effect, a place where he could escape the pressures of a birthing nation and the responsibilities of leading where no man had gone before. In middle Tennessee, near Columbia, stands a mission christened with the name “Rattle and Snap.” It was named after the dice game in which the antebellum home was attained. Throughout the home the ugly scars of the civil war could be seen. From war o neglect, from fire to decay, this home survived a bicentennial of history. As you exit through the rear door you can follow another pebbled pathway to another garden. This one was the expression of the family of James Polk. This garden is strikingly familiar to the gardens built years before or after. The manicured hedges, the fountain centered, all expressed peace to the human spirit. From war to catastrophe the families had an escape from the struggle to a place of solace. The garden of Gethsemane, until the entrance of Jesus was just an olive garden. The equipment and tools of the olive pickers remained scattered about in expectation of the next season. But, when Jesus entered there it was transformed to his private chamber. He never dug the soil, or trimmed the hedges, but His personal expression remains even until today. You can walk the pebbled pathways past the same olive trees of two thousand years ago. The smell of olive oil still hangs in the air. Pleasant shadows providing shade from the sun and the peaceful serenity still remain for all who walk there. But beyond the physical miracle of preservation, there appears even a greater miracle, the miracle of His presence. This garden travels with Him. Whenever His children experience turmoil or pain, whenever their world is turned upside down with tragedy or loss, this escape is there anytime you call on His name. What a peace settles over your soul. A miraculous detachment from our struggles is provided for us. You can almost smell the olive oil of healing carried on the breeze of contentment, while feeling the cool shade of protection. Jesus cultivated this garden to his specifications. Each walkway along with every plant was placed by Him so that His children would benefit when they entered there. This all, He provided for you because He knew that you would have to walk through times of trial. He knew that the fires of time would try your soul, painful trials and times of confusion, trials of faith that would carry us to the place of escape. But Jesus teaches His disciples to escape to the garden with Him.