The groundskeeper met us at the cemetery office. We were looking for family members who had been buried in this cemetery decades before. We gave him the names and he knowingly nodded his head. They were buried here, and he would show us their plots. The gardener’s name was Ron, a middle-aged man who showed the signs of weather and professionalism in his physique and his mannerisms. Acquiring a map, Ron began to draw small circles at various spots, with comments like, “Go down this road and watch for the very large rhododendron on your right” or “They are on the hill which I just watered, and it can be slippery. I’ll mark the spot for you.” He found us a few minutes later under the rhododendron at the correct stone marker. He pointed at the hill behind us where he had marked with red flags the rest of our family grave sites.
Ron had been at this cemetery, tending its grounds—mowing, watering, digging up weeds, and cleaning its markers for over 30 years. He was hesitant about leaving the site for even a week for a vacation since he did not feel his substitutes cared enough about the place. He proudly told us about his church where he serves as a sound technician.
Ron touched me. He cared so much about this place. He tended it lovingly. He knew these gravesites represented loved ones and he wanted their family and friends to find their resting places. Ron wanted this place to be an inspiration for all who came.
I am reminded of the story of Mary going to the tomb of Jesus on the first day of the week and finding the grave site empty. Seeing a man there, mistaking Jesus as the gardener (the groundskeeper of the cemetery garden), Mary asks him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” I also hum the song, “I come to the garden alone, while the dew is still on the rosebuds…”, a song of Mary in the Garden where Jesus, her Lod, had been buried.
It was a special day for us. We found the places where our family were laid. We found a gardener who cared about this special place. We found a Christian man, serving God in his own humble way. I have thought, what an example for all of us—doing what he does the best he can and serving God through his work and caring.
Prayer: You call us into all kinds of work and responsibilities. May we remember that in whatever we are doing, we are doing it for You and those you love. Amen