Gethsemane Prayer Garden
Faith Chapel, Syracuse, NY
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Autumn Joy
September is a month of change – the tree leaves begin their awesome transformation from
green to their autumn yellow, orange, red, and even purple colors; nuts fall to the ground,
much to the glee of scampering squirrels; many birds begin their long migration paths from
north to south, sometimes in mass and sometimes alone; and wooly caterpillars inch along
in hope of reaching a better place before the onset of cold winds.
The garden is in transition during September as well – the purple coneflowers have faded in color, the cranesbill have long stopped flowering, and the columbine have started their new growth for the next spring. Yet several plants show their beauty during September, and the autumn joy with its broccoli-shaped flowers is one of these splendid plants. Patiently, these flowers have waited to open, first as a blush of pink that soon transitions to various shades of red or purple, and then to deeper magenta by mid to late fall.
By contrast, the autumn joy pales in comparison to the rejoicing that we experience when we love as Christ loves ...
This teaching continues in the book, entitled "Joy in Loving."
Excerpt from A Garden of Love, copyright © 2009 by Thomas B. Clarke, 82 colorful pages, $19.95. By interweaving a depiction of flowers and the Scriptures, this book attempts to illustrate how flowers such as the autumn joy can inspire a Scriptural application of love. Thirty flowering plants are presented – each photograph was taken in the Gethsemane Prayer Garden.