Back to the garden – Soulsojourner

arch sign — The entrance to Mother's Garden in Lebanon, Missouri.

wood structure with Jesus statue — A wood structure with a statue of Jesus in the park.

garden in winter — The roadside garden in January.

statue of Mary — A statue of the Virgin Mary in the park.

One of two wooden bridges over the creek in the park.

Jesus statue — A statue of Jesus and a plaque with The Lord's Prayer.

23rd psalm plaque — A plaque in the park bearing the 23rd psalm, mounted on a rock that a tree embraced .

stone and wood cross — A wood and stone cross with storage and drawers containing a guest book.

Joni Mitchell’s cautionary chorus, “And we’ve got to get ourselves back to the garden,” probably doesn’t evoke images of statues of Jesus and the Virgin Mary (song lyrics link),but in stumbling upon a roadside garden that I hadn’t noticed on other trips to Lebanon, Missouri, I found peace among the paths. I particularly like the places discovered on the way to somewhere else.

I had already enjoyed the Route 66 Museum, just past the garden and we were on our way to nearby Bennett Springs State Park for a midwinter hike. Mother’s Garden is located along “the Mother Road,” coined by John Steinbeck in his 1939 novel The Grapes of Wrath. I don’t believe that the park was named after Route 66’s nickname, but I like the correlation.

There are so many quaint places that pop out in the countryside, but finding information about them can be a challenge. Sometimes I am reminded that every grand view does not need to be recorded photographically and sometimes mystery is preferential to knowing every last detail.

After a bit of fruitless research (I did find a breadcrumb that I chose to leave), I decided to let it stand as just a beautiful, little park where one can stroll, pray, read or play. There is a guest book in the form of a standard black and white school composition notebook, safe from the elements. It was in a drawer, thoughtfully tucked into a rough-hewn stone and wood cross, absent of any organization’s name.

Walking in the park also made me think of the lovely church hymn, “In the Garden” by C. Austin Miles. This garden immediately made me remember the garden next to The Bible Museum in Houston, Missouri (click here to read Bible Museum post).

Unlike that garden, there was no accompanying building. As in that post, I also recalled the same tune. After driving away I played different versions of it and settled on Alan Jackson’s version (click here to listen) as a modern favorite.

There are a few lovely wooden bridges over an active creek, open-framed shelters, benches, tables, cleared paths, and plaques with Bible verses and quotes.

Whoever built and maintains the park offers an air of humbleness. I imagine their satisfaction in creating a space in a smallish city of 15,000. A place where people come and go, enjoy a peaceful break or picnic in the tiny park, and continue on their way.

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