What is the world’s oldest profession? – and it’s not what you are thinking. As an avid gardener, I realized some time ago that it is gardening which can rightfully claim the title of “world’s oldest profession.” In fact, the Book of Genesis makes ii abundantly clear that the garden is a metaphor for the mystery of human life and endeavor when God delegates to the man and woman a responsibility to oversee the various life forms, animal and vegetative, placed in Eden. To phrase it in pun form, man’s first job was guarding the garden. Yet even after the man and woman failed in that original task, thus allowing the invasive weeds of sin and death to mar the beauty of His garden, we see that God already had a ‘Plan B’ in mind.

The woman herself would become the bearer of new life, designated to nurture and bring it to fruition. Man was likewise commanded to “till t he earth” although both of their respective tasks would henceforth be carried out in difficulty and pain. To the woman God promised, “in pain shall you bring forth children” and to the man, “Cursed be the ground because of you. In toil shall you eat its yield… thorns and thistles shall it bring to you as you eat the plants of the field.” (Gen. 3:16-18) The garden then became an image of our human destiny to be played out in each and every human life. When we are born we inherit a symbolic patch of earth to cultivate, but only for a season before it passes on to another generation.

When we are first born, this symbolic ground of our body (“Remember man that thou art dust”) is dormant from the winter frosts but as spring approaches it begins to thaw and sprout new organisms and budding flowers. This represents childhood when everything is new and fresh to our senses. We are filled with discovery and hope. Life seems endless and opportunities are unlimited as the springtime of our life holds out its myriad promises. But as the days lengthen we realize the need to organize the profusion of growth within us into some kind of order. Each person must thus assume the responsibility of planning and ordering his or her garden, meaning one’s personal life, This entails plowing and planting; deciding what flowers or other plants one intends to raise. Depending on variations in climate, different soils, and particular localities, etc. added to the different talents and interests of any given individual there will undoubtedly emerge thousands, even millions, of diverse garden schemes. No two gardens will look exactly alike, for each human life represents a unique and original contribution to the story of mankind.