In The Garden

I come to the garden alone,
While the dew is still on the roses,
And the voice I hear falling on my ear
The Son of God discloses.

Refrain:
And He walks with me, and He talks with me,
And He tells me I am His own;
And the joy we share as we tarry there,
None other has ever known.

He speaks, and the sound of His voice
Is so sweet the birds hush their singing,
And the melody that He gave to me
Within my heart is ringing.

I’d stay in the garden with Him,
Though the night around me be falling,
But He bids me go; through the voice of woe
His voice to me is calling.

This particular hymn was written in 1912 by Charles Austin Miles.  Mr. Miles had a rather interesting background.  He was trained as a pharmacist and was also an amateur photographer, but left his secular profession to become a church music director and hymn writer.  Mr. Miles wrote both the lyrics and music to this particular song in one day.  While working in his dark room waiting for film to develop, he had a vision of Mary Magdalene’s encounter with Jesus upon visiting the empty tomb.  He was inspired by this vision and by the thought of Mary’s special encounter with the Lord “in the garden” that he wrote this entire song in less than one day.

I have a personal connection with this great song as well.  It was one of my grandmother Docia Mowery’s favorite hymns and was played at her funeral.  When I hear this song, I always think about her – my sweet, quiet grandmother.  But I also think about the “He” of this song.  The one who walks with us, and talks with us, and tells us we are His own.  Our Lord and Risen Savior Jesus Christ.

Couple of comments on the lyrics:

•  “The sound of His voice is so sweet the birds hush their singing” – I am a bird person.  I have bird feeders outside my house and enjoy listening to all the birds in my yard – the cardinals, robins, chickadees, and nuthatches…. well, maybe not the crows.  On Saturday and Sunday mornings, I love to go on my porch and listen to the birds singing.  But can you imagine the garden around the tomb the day of the Resurrection?  The earth had gone from darkness on Friday – the pain, the loss, the hopelessness, and the burden of sin that Jesus carried, to the glory of Sunday morning.  Light, hope, freedom, salvation, and the Resurrection.  Part of me thinks it would have been impossible to hush the birds from singing and rejoicing that morning in the Garden.  But the other part of me recognizes the truth of this lyric.  That at the sound of His voice, everything is quieted.  The birds singing is quieted, and our fear and worry are quieted.  Jesus spoke a simple word – “Mary” and with that word brought comfort and peace and hope to Mary Magdalene.

• “Melody that He gave to me” – Singing and praising are natural responses to God’s grace and kindness in our lives.  I believe the Lord inspires men and women to pen songs like “In the garden” so that others may be blessed by the words.  But often times in Scripture (and often times in hymns), these songs, or melodies, come in the night.  At the hour of desperation.  At our lowest point, the Lord shows up and brings us a song in the night.  The same was true for Mary Magdalene.  She was at the lowest of lows.  The Lord had been brutally crucified.  She watched as He hung on the cross, and I am pretty sure she felt hopeless that morning on the way to the tomb.  But that Sunday morning, she was changed by His words.  She was changed by the Resurrection.  She had hope and a melody to sing.

I thought about this song being birthed in a “dark room.”  There are several things interesting to me about a photography “dark room.”  First, developing  pictures is a process.  You don’t go into a dark room, switch the lights off, and immediately have a complete photograph.  It takes time.  It is a process. You have to be patient and wait.  Exposing the film too soon will ruin the picture.  The second thing that is interesting to me about a dark room is that you really never see a clear photograph in the dark room.  Even after a picture is fully developed, you have to see the photograph in the light to really see it’s beauty.  In the dark room, you only gets shades and outlines.  You can only see parts of the picture.  You can’t see the entire beauty of a photograph in the dark.  You must go into the light.

Are you in a dark room today?  Does the “finishing process” you are going through seem to be taking too long?  Is the picture of your life hard to make out right now?  If so, can I encourage you to go to the Light?  To seek the Lord.  To listen for His voice.  To allow Him to quiet the other voices in your life.  He promises to walk with you and talk with you.  You are His own.  Like Mary, He knows you and calls you by name.  You are special to Him.