Hymn of the Week: March 29, 2024
In the Garden
Text: C. Austin Miles 1913
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]
In the Garden
What can we make of an old hymn that was popularized on Billy Sunday’s revival circuit and then recorded by Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Elvis Presley, Mahalia Jackson, Loretta Lynn, and the Avett Brothers?
Despite being dropped from many hymnals it withstands being dissed and remains a top ten favorite. So much so that it was restored to many hymnals in the 90s and 2000s. Its origin? Back in 1912, C. Austin Miles, an amateur photographer, was pondering John 20 while waiting for some film to develop.
As I read in that day, I seemed to be part of the scene… I seemed to be standing at the entrance of a garden, looking down a gently winding path, shaded by olive branches. A woman in white with head bowed, hand clasping her throat as if to choke back her sobs, walked slowly into the shadows… Turning herself, she saw Jesus standing; so did I… Under the inspiration of this vision, I wrote as quickly as the words would be formed the poem exactly as it has since appeared. That same evening, I wrote the music.
“I come to the garden alone”
The “I” is Mary Magdalene. Mary and Jesus met up on Easter Sunday. The Gospels don’t say they met in a garden, but John 20:15 tells us Mary mistook Jesus for the gardener. This makes me think of Being There, the brilliant Peter Sellars film from 1979 about mistaken identity. Chance, the gardener is mistaken for an upper-class businessman, Chauncey Gardiner, and people leap to absurd conclusions, finding his simple-minded sayings about gardening to be the most profound wisdom. Did people leap to ridiculous conclusions about Jesus? Mary was downright sure he was dead: She couldn’t recognize him because her sorrow was so strong and her belief that the dead stay dead was so solid. Then she heard her name and was sure he was alive.
The garden envisioned in the hymn is more verdant than the vicinity of Jesus’ tomb, which would have been a rocky uncultivated patch of earth. “The dew is still on the roses” is a bit romantic, as is the idea of Jesus’ voice being “so sweet the birds hush their singing.” Jesus did speak to Mary, calling her by name. How lovely. God knows and addresses all of us by name. Isaiah 49:16 tantalizingly suggests that your name is tattooed on the palm of God’s hand - as is mine and as is Mary’s.
The rhythm of “And he walks with me and he talks with me” feels like we are skipping along with him. Mary’s encounter was brief. She impulsively and understandably reached out to embrace him, but he pushed back: “Do not cling to me.” Then he was gone, but not really gone. The hymn owns that we feel the pangs of separation and also Jesus’ lingering presence after his departure. He bids us go, but once we do go back out into the world, we can, along with Mary, testify that he still “walks with me and he talks with me.”
The sweetness of the hymn is a bit at odds with the resurrection accounts in the Gospels, where the first witnesses are frightened and dumbstruck and scurry off with the news, trembling in awe and uncertainty. The hymn does remind us that gaining a ticket to heaven when we die is not the main point of resurrection. The presence of the Lord continues after resurrection days are over. Jesus pledged to the disciples at the Last Supper that he would send the Spirit to comfort, challenge, enlighten, and be his presence going forward. This is the plot of the Gospels: Jesus is raised; therefore you are forgiven.
