Meditation Gardens

Do you ever feel you'd like to find to a quiet place to pray? In the Northwest there are plenty of beaches or woodland trails you might escape to sit in God's presence. But did you know there are also several prayer or meditation gardens in Stanwood?

Last week I spent a little time in three, all within a few minutes of our home! Each is beautiful, and each is different from the other.

Bonhoeffer Botanical Gardens is not designed specifically as a prayer garden, but you could do some fine praying there in the beauty of the native Northwest woodland. It is located at Freeborn Lutheran Church, just east of the Exit 212 off I-5 (300th St NW). Just beyond the trees and Church Creek, which runs through the gardens, is the freeway, but it seems miles away as you explore this beautiful 10-acre park.

Across town, just as you cross from Stanwood onto Camano Island, is St Aiden Episcopal Church. We attended their Selah Service last Sunday evening, which was held outside on their wonderful grounds. The gardens at St Aiden invite you to stay a while and wait on the Lord. The plantings are lovely and the Celtic features in the garden draw your heart to think on Christ. Find here a spot to rest in his presence.

The meditation garden, adjacent to St Cecilia Catholic Church, is a part of the Carmelite Institute for Spirituality. Here you can walk the Stations of the Cross as you proceed down a paved path bordered by lovely trees, plants, and flowers. There were several fruit trees planted in one section of the garden, and I thought of the Tree of Life that is in the center of the City in Revelation, and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations (22:5). It was a hot day, but the cool breeze in the garden refreshed me, as did the garden's beauty. This garden would be a wonderful place to spend some time alone with the Lord. 

In other posts I have already written about the prayer trail at the Warm Beach Free Methodist Church, with the Lord's Prayer written out along the trail. That's another one you might like to spend some time in.

The Lord bless you this week and draw you closer to his heart, whatever you are doing.