THOUGHTS

May 3, 2020

A reprint from May, 2014

Just something I wrote in the past...

Enmity in the Garden

In perfect pastoral peace, a garden grew

Glistening in the sun, lush in the shade,

Bejeweled with droplets, verdant, this Eden,

A trysting place of intimate fellowship

Where footsteps along narrow pathways

Drew closer together in freshly turned soil.

Ever careful not to crush new growth,

So close, nothing could slip in but a snake.

Even Edens have serpents.

In my peace and joy of growing in grace,

Bearing fruit, grafted in the Father's vine,

Water washed, blest by the Light,

We walk and talk,

But He says, "Beware the Beguiler,

Oh woman, you must hate the serpent."

Enmity in a garden.

But He knelt beside me

To labor with love

Toiling, pruning, sweating 

Great drops of blood.

Digging in His heel in fresh-turned soil

Upon a narrow pathway

Bruising the serpent's head

That I might be 

A first fruit among His creatures.

There is a pleasure in my backyard, each plant, tree, flower, deck, wrought iron arch and chairs, pleasing to my eye bringing satisfaction in what was created by our hands until that is a neighbor behind a fence hidden by our shade yells, "Fix your f...ing fence!" It shattered my peace.  What was broken in the fence was behind my butterfly bush and wisteria growing wildly.  There is a snake in every garden, but I can't let it steal my joy.

We got a call last week that there were two sheriffs and an animal control officer at our house responding to a vicious dog report.  Our little wiener-roll-over-and-pet-my-tummy dog and our puppet mouth pug were busted for digging out from under our gate and were loose in our yard.

They have been known for aggressively kissing the grandkids, but are relatively harmless as guard dogs.  Perhaps they were guilty of being a little snarky-barky.  I wondered if they took a pug mug shot.  Fortunately, someone was home and let them back inside so that they were not hauled off to doggie jail.  Is that a snake hissing I hear?  Sometimes it is hard to just get along.

"So the Lord God said to the serpent:  'Because you have done this, You are cursed more than all the cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you shall go, And" you shall eat dust All the days of your life.  And I will put enmity Between you and the woman...He shall bruise your head.'" Genesis 3:14-15