(Based on the book In the Garden: An Illustrated Guide to the Plants of the Bible, by Chris Whitaker)

The almond blossoms appear in late winter
Like a sudden snow or the agéd saint’s hair—
A promise of the covering of sin,
A crown of many years’ blessings.

The willows flourish where the water courses,
Growing quickly, letting down leafy shoots.
The righteous, like them, are planted and fed.
Israel’s harps were hung there in sorrow.

The kings brought myrrh to honor
The infant Savior, just as His body, taken from
The cross, was wrapped in linen spiced with myrrh
And aloes. This cloth, discarded in the tomb,

Honored and dressed the body of our Jesus,
His death foreshadowed by Mary’s anointing.
She washed his feet with tears and spikenard—
He of greater value received her rich offering.

On the cross they offered Him vinegar and gall—
The vinegar, wine gone sour, is what
The poor among them drank; the gall, a sedative
He refused so He might bear, unaided, God’s wrath,

And become for us the Rose of Sharon
And the lily of the valley—the rose that
Solomon saw in the Mediterranean fields,
Unsurpassed in loveliness and glory.

Ordained Servant Online, August–September, 2024