“In the beginning,” Genesis tells us, God placed us in a “garden” (Hebrew gan). We know the rest of the story. We went from “deeply rooted and grounded” in God to having to learn to till and keep that soil of our hearts in covenant with God in order to properly bear fruit and tend to coming generations.

The garden was a protected place, a place in which somehow our dwelling with God was beautiful and lush. The description tells of a well-watered garden, an “orchard,” with all kinds of fruit trees, vegetables, and animal companions.[1] This garden life also described our relationship with God –one that was bound in unity, beauty, abundance, and fullness. Until it wasn’t. That was our doing.

Once broken, we have struggled not only to walk with God in a covenant in the hope of returning to that…