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Modern prayer gardens Both privately and publicly there seems to be increased interest today and many Retreat Centres have incorporated a quiet enclosed garden where their guests can find the quiet seclusion that is supportive of prayer and reflection.4 In continuity with ancient monastic principles, modern Prayer gardens are often themed or set forth a narrative through the symbolism and positioning of plants and other features. Creation gardens These are gardens where the entire space is devoted to the representation of the first two chapters of Genesis. Unless your garden is fairly large and has variety in its natural contours the necessary landscaping may put this idea beyond possibility, but such a garden can witness to your ecological concerns and foster the adoption of practices that preserve God’s creation, not only in the sense described above, but also by encouraging you to look for plants that have become increasingly rare through pollution, destruction of meadowland, and modern chemical control of wild flowers.5
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