STEP ONE: BREATHE

Take a deep, cleansing breath. Allow the air to fill your lungs and expand your body. Exhale and empty yourself into the room. Repeat three times - once for the one who Created you, once for the Incarnate One who walks beside you, and once for the Spirit whose life fills your being.

STEP TWO: DWELL IN WORD

“Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love,
so that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.”

— Psalm 90:14

An Ordinary Backyard

In my blogs and devotional series, I often write about faraway travels. I like to share insights from visiting national parks and taking coastal drives. My imagination soars when I think about ancient ruins left in remote canyons. The context for this devotional book is a lot closer to home; it takes place in my backyard.

Some backyards are extravagant. I have been in yards with waterfalls and koi ponds. I have marveled with a hint of jealousy at backyard train layouts with miniature trees and tunnels. Spectacular and stunning. I have witnessed that considerable investments of time and money can produce settings that rival parks and botanical spaces. These are places that generate a feeling of “wow!”

My backyard is not a showplace and will never make the cover of a garden magazine. There is nothing particularly complicated or technical about it. The only moving parts that it contains are the creatures that come to visit. There is a lawn, a small vegetable garden, beautiful flowers, a birdbath, a woodpile, compost bin, and perennial shrubs that line the border.

My backyard is an ordinary place where life happens and blooms. Sitting in a comfortable deck chair, drinking my morning coffee, I like to watch the sunrise through the trees to the east. I breathe deeply—sometimes even in prayer—as I sit and listen to the unsolicited but always appreciated chorus of songbirds.

Don’t get me wrong; my backyard is not perfect. There you will find mud, weeds, and dog poop. As refreshing a space as it is, there are no pretensions. Its beauty takes work and tending. There are times when the other spheres of life demand attention and pull with a gravity that is inescapable. When that happens, the backyard gets wild and unruly.

Even if you have a landscaper or lawn service, your backyard is a place where you are likely to put on a pair of work gloves and get your hands dirty. Yards require a fair amount of work and care. There are tasks of planting and pruning to be done. Some greenery needs to be cut back while you allow other fauna free range. It is ironic that without care and hard work, backyards are probably not going to be a place of relaxation and sanctuary. Unattended backyards are usually avoided and are not a place where you gather and share life with friends.

From the second creation story in Genesis (2:4b–25), God beckons humanity to tend and care for the garden so that it might grow and flourish. Similarly, we are invited each day to attend to our spiritual gardens—nurture, water, prune, seed. These are spiritual activities that require thought, effort, and intention. At times, things will get unruly. In these moments, we need to stop, breathe, and refocus. Prayer, meditation, and Word/Sacrament-centered worship help to get us back on track and our spiritual backyards back in shape.

When Jesus preached and taught about God’s Kingdom, he said that it was nearby. Jesus used parables—small teaching illustrations—to proclaim that the Kingdom of Heaven is close to where we live our lives. God’s mysteries can be found and explored in common spaces that are literally in our backyard.

Each day offers us an opportunity. In the ordinary places of our lives, God is present and invites us to engage in spiritual living to grow as God’s children and to love our neighbor. We don’t need to travel to exotic and remote places to access God’s wisdom. Simple experiences and nearby objects can teach us about the wonders of God’s Kingdom. We need to look no further than our backyard to find a place of nurture, challenge, and growth.

STEP THREE: PRAY

Gracious God,

be near to me in the place that I call home. Help me to recognize your presence among family, friends, neighbors, and strangers. Strengthen me to love others as Jesus did. Guide in your pathways of kindness, compassion, and mercy.

Through Jesus Christ, amen.