Many recent studies of the garden of Eden in Genesis suggest that this garden, in its relationship to the rest of the earth, functions as an analogue of the holy of holies in the tabernacle or the Jerusalem temple. Is it significant that God planted a garden for humans to live in-a garden that we were commanded to cultivate-instead of a self-sustained wilderness or a prosperous city? Richard Middleton in his inspirational book A New Heaven and A New Earth, suggests that this is indeed of great significance: The language suggests that God literally knelt in the ground and molded it out of the mud and dirt. In the Christian Bible, Genesis 2 tells us that God’s first act after creation was to plant a garden. It is a way to express our faith and interact with God and God’s good creation.Ĭultivation of the land and gardening are woven through most faith traditions. Community gardens are springing up in church parking lots, housing projects, school playgrounds and in some urban areas, on vacant blocks of land that have stood empty for years.Ī community garden is not just a place to grow food. Urban agriculture has become an integral part of an increasing number of cities. Even the White House planted an organic garden to supplement the presidential salads. In 2009, an estimated 9 million Americans started gardens to supplement their diets and the numbers keep climbing. Tough economic times sent people everywhere scurrying for garden books and packets of seed. Vegetable gardening was one of the major responses to the economic recession of 2008.
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