"In the Garden"

When I take my daily bike ride on Layton’s bike path to the state park I enjoy the quiet and peace of these moments. I am alone with my creator. I talk to Him and quietly sing praises as I commune with Him. “In my Life Be Glorified” and “Father I Adore Thee” are two of the hymns which I lift up to Him.

In my last few postings, I have been thinking and writing about the ways in which I see and hear God in my life. Another song which I sing, “In the Garden”, brings back very special memories to me. It is a song which my mother taught me and in turn which I taught to my daughter Elisa. We would sing it together. I understood and believed the words as a child and so did Elisa. I had a mother who conversed with God and knew that He was always with her. I do the same and thank The Lord for giving me a mother who taught me about God’s presence by example. This is how I want to live so that I can pass on my faith to my children and my grandchildren.
Elisa died when she was 9 years old. She gave me so much joy and so many memories. Singing this song with her is one of those special memories.

I looked up the history of the song. It was written by Austin Miles in 1912 (this was the year that my Mom was born in North Dakota). Austin Miles was a pharmacist. He loved photography and he used his dark room to develop his photographs. He also used it as a place to spend quiet time with God and meditate on His Word. It was in this dark room where the words to “In the Garden” came to him. It was based on John 20:14 when Mary saw and spoke to Jesus on Easter morning in the garden. God’s word spoke to him and under the inspiration of this vision he immediately penned the poem and then the music.

God used the words to speak to the heart of Austin Miles, Olga (my mother), and Elisa. They continue to speak to me as I sing them back to the Lord in my own quiet time with Him as I travel the bike trail in Layton.

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