To Comfort the Earth

Many times scriptural insights do not come with an initial reading, but later in some personal experience. I recall one spring day when I looked out of my window and felt nature beckoning me. I decided to leave the morning dishes in the sink, and went outside to plant a bed of petunias.

As I knelt down and placed both hands in the warm dirt, I remembered Enoch’s experience with the earth found in Moses 7:49: “And when Enoch heard the earth mourn, he wept, and cried unto the Lord, saying: O Lord, wilt thou not have compassion upon the earth?” Pondering those words, I realized that the earth had been cursed to help mankind work out his salvation, her soil bringing forth thorns and weeds, her beauty made barren. In many ways, she is dependent upon men for fulfillment.

This may be one motivation for beautifying our homes and yards—that our gardens might yield an increase and flowers lend their fragrance to the air, a balm of Gilead for the earth. Deanna D. Bean, Payson, Utah