Early summer mornings are special.  Around 4 or 4:30 a.m., one can hear the first song of the robin.  And by 5:30, the morning light is beginning to break.

On a recent summer morning, thoughts of the morning that Jesus rose from the grave came freshly to mind.  His resurrection is something I want to remember every morning.  God makes each day, (Psalm 118:24), but the morning Jesus rose from the dead was one of a kind.

John 20 says it was still dark that early morning when Mary came to the tomb and saw that the stone was rolled away.  She ran back to Simon Peter and the disciples and said, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him."

Simon Peter and the disciples came and looked, and then went back home.  Mary stayed.  C Miles Austin liked to meditate on John 20. This time, it was as though he was right there with them!  He saw Mary weeping, and then he saw her turning to see Jesus.  Thinking Jesus was the gardener, she inquired of Him.  But when Jesus said her name, "Mary," she knew it was He.  Miles quickly wrote the words the song, "In the Garden."

I come to the garden alone

When the dew is still on the roses.

And the voice I hear falling on my ear,

The Son of God discloses. 

That evening, Miles also wrote the music.  The time of the writing of the song was March,1912.

He speaks, and the sound of His voice

Is so sweet, the birds hush their singing

And the melody that He gave to me,

Within my heart is ringing.

Miles was meditating on John 20 while in the darkroom, waiting for some pictures to develop.  What a picture had come to his mind!  Miles was a pharmacist who began writing gospel songs and eventually became an editor of hymnals and songbooks.  His hobby was photography.

And He walks with me, and He talks with me,

And He tells me I am His own,

And the joy we share as we tarry there,

None other has ever known.

The chorus can relate to the experience of every believer--of God's presence in their lives.  The last verse, I believe, alludes to the commission given by Jesus to go into the world.  He wants everyone to hear the gospel.

I'd stay in the garden with Him,

Though the night around me be falling,

But He bids me go through a voice of woe

His voice to me is calling.