He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”
John 20:15 (NIV)
It was always curious to me that in Jesus’ first resurrection appearance, he was mistaken as the caretaker of the garden. Yet, the more I consider this overlooked detail, the more I realize how profound it is that Jesus, the first fruit of a new humanity, appears as a gardener—the very calling given to Adam and Eve (Gen 1:26,28; 2:5). John begins his gospel echoing creation, and he comes full circle with Jesus appearing as a caretaker.
It’s almost as if God is saying that part and parcel of humanity’s redeemed calling is to be caretakers of this world. This means so much more than what you might initially think this means. Perhaps when our Triune God created humanity, God’s intention for us was to become attentive observers and caregivers of the natural world around us so that we could grow in the wisdom of how we were to cultivate this world. In this line of thought, the foundational aspect of our fulfilling God’s calling involves the slowing of our lives to observe the natural world and to glean from it the hidden wisdom and inspiration of what brings flourishing into our world.
This brings me to the growing field of biomimicry, which has always been inspirational for Goldenwood. I want to highlight an OnBeing interview with Janine Benyus, a biologist and author who co-founded the Biomimicry Institute and is widely considered one of the pioneers of the biomimicry movement. This podcast is well worth your time and will inspire you to look at creation differently as it elicits a deeper desire to be in it.
As the flowers start to bloom and soon become fruit, may we find in this beauty a wisdom that goes much deeper than the surface as we rise to become Easter people.
“We are an Easter people and alleluia is our song.”
Augustine
(Stay tuned for more of our forthcoming programming to incorporate the critical importance of nature as we seek to cultivate a new vision of work.)