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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. (Refrain)
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.
(Refrain)
Text: Charles Webb
Used by permission.
© 1989 United Methodist Publishing House
You will not find
my favorite hymn in a Lutheran hymnal. It is a favorite for two
reasons. It is the song my mother sang, always slightly off-key,
as she rocked my younger siblings and probably me, too. And the
message, whether sung by my mother or the congregation, is always
the same: “I am his own.”
There is a saying
that good parents raise their children to know right from wrong,
but forgive them and continue to love and support them if they do
wrong. When I was a child, this hymn reminded me that mine were
good parents. Now, it reminds me that our heavenly Father is also
a good parent. He tells us how he wants us to act, but he forgives
us when we fail, and he always supports us.
Is the garden an
ordinary one? The Garden of Eden? Or a heavenly garden? It doesn’t
matter. The message is that God loves us, no matter what, and that
Christ died to keep it that way.
Lord, continue to
remind us, as we see the marvels of this worldly garden, that we
are your own.
Jolene Dougherty
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