The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett: A Glimpse of Life Unending
Jenni Clark Dickens
January 16, 2022
I have a confession to make. I love children’s books. I loved them growing up, and I love them even more now. As a child, I liked imagining myself in the stories, and I savored the magical, mystical feeling certain books gave me. Now, I see more in the books than I did back then. Layers of truth that pierce my heart and wash over me with waves of encouragement, hope, and joy. Hints to the nature of reality at its core. Timeless treasures that I come back to again and again.
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett is one of those books. My mom encouraged me to read it when I was a girl, as it was one of her favorite childhood stories. Rereading it with my own daughter, I see additional beauty within its pages. As the story unfolds, my heart bubbles over with blissful anticipation and profound comfort, not just for the characters in the book, but for my own soul.
A Story of Transformative Hope
The book tells of Mary Lennox, a child from a wealthy British family in 1901. Although her physical needs have always been met, she has been neglected emotionally. The sudden death of her parents sends her to live with her uncle in a large manor on the English moors. A self-centered and discontented child, Mary undergoes an inspiring transformation bolstered by the discovery of an abandoned garden.
Many beautiful themes are tucked away in this story that revitalize the heart with spiritual truths. The most compelling is the theme of life — new life, the restoration of life lost, and the infinite nature of life.
When Mary first enters the garden, the walls and wintry trees are covered with the tangled, matted stems of climbing roses, but no flowers are blooming. She is unsure whether the garden still contains life but is encouraged by a few small green shoots peeking up from the cold earth. As Mary tends the secret garden and sees life slowly begin to emerge with the coming of spring, she undergoes a transformation from a disagreeable and hope-deprived child to a vibrant being full of joy and purpose.
Mary shares her discovery with her cousin, Colin, who has also been emotionally neglected. Told all his life that his health is poor, he is obsessed with and anticipating death. The alteration is even more distinct in Colin, as he escapes life as a despairing shut-in to enter a robust existence full of aspiration and hopefulness.
The author describes Colin’s new perception of life as an infinite reality. “He had known it before in a way, he had hoped it and felt it and thought about it, but just at that minute something had rushed all through him — a sort of rapturous belief and realization, and it had been so strong that he could not help calling out. ‘I shall live forever and ever and ever!’ he cried grandly….’I feel as if I want to shout out something — something thankful, joyful!’”
Finding Hope in Hardship
Colin’s words are timely for me. My heart is heavy with news of many deeply sad events. In recent months, many of my friends and family members have experienced hardship and even tragedy. Two high school classmates who lost their nineteen-year-old daughter to a drunk driver. A college friend whose husband succumbed to COVID at 49 years old. My close friend, a wife and mother in her forties, showing the signs of ALS, a devastating, terminal disease.
I’m certain you have experienced hardship as well. Our world is full of it, and the recent pandemic has only added to our struggles in the past couple of years. Our hearts ache and our hope falters. What can encourage us in these dark times?
For me, it is the intrinsic sense that good will someday prevail, that all will be made right once again. That death does not have the final word. There’s an impression deep inside me that life is eternal.
My heart resonates with this passage in The Secret Garden: “One of the strange things about living in the world is that it is only now and then one is quite sure one is going to live forever and ever and ever….sometimes the immense quiet of the dark-blue at night with millions of stars waiting and watching makes one sure; and sometimes a sound of far-off music makes it true; and sometimes a look in someone’s eyes.”
A Longing for Eternity
The hope of renewal, of life rising eternally from death, permeates literature as far back as history is recorded. The children’s transformation and the garden’s rebirth are just one stirring illustration. There are many beliefs throughout humanity associated with this hope.
Burnett, the author of The Secret Garden, didn’t ascribe to any particular religion. She attributes the renewal to an intrinsic power of nature, something Colin labels as “the Magic.” In the book, Colin comments that his experience with the Magic feels similar to his friend Dickon’s spontaneous singing of a joyful song of praise to God.
Laughing Uproariously
For many of us, the concept of eternal life in Heaven conjures up images of sitting in a boring church service or lounging passively on clouds with harps. But the Bible speaks of a New Earth restored to its original glory before sin tainted it. It foretells our lives continuing in resurrected bodies and our relationships with loved ones restored. Randy Alcorn, in his book Heaven, writes, “Life on the New Earth will be like sitting in front of the fire with family and friends, basking in the warmth, laughing uproariously, dreaming of the adventures to come — and then going out and living those adventures together. With no fear that life will ever end or that tragedy will descend like a dark cloud. With no fear that dreams will be shattered or relationships broken.”
This brilliant future, I believe, is what our hearts cry out for. As believers in Christ, it’s the reason for our hope in dark times. If you’re curious to learn more about what eternal life will be like or how to enter it through faith in Christ, I recommend Randy Alcorn’s book Heaven, quoted above. I read it during the time before my dad’s passing, and it conveys much wisdom and hope.
Each new day of this new year, let’s fix our eyes purposefully on the eternal. Let’s hold on to hope as we live out our faith expectantly, anticipating an unbelievably joyous tomorrow.
Don’t you love how good literature leads us to ponder eternal questions? Thank you for your thoughtful presentation.
So true, Annie! Thanks for connecting!
I was greatly blessed in my childhood that my mother encouraged a love for reading in spite of the fact that we lived on a farm and I had many demanding chores. Reading takes us to places far away, teaches us many lessons and new perspectives, and challenges us to be more. I love the story of The Secret Garden and I’m so glad you shared it here. Your message goes much deeper into the foundation of our faith and the power of our Creator. Being in nature gifts me with renewal. You’ve shared words of hope. Thank you!
Katherine, I’m sure growing up on a farm gave you many opportunities to see God’s provision and renewal in nature. I wish my own children had more immersion in nature. It seems harder to come by with each generation! Thank you for sharing your insights.
I throughly enjoyed reading your sharings
Thanks so much, Denise! Praying that the Lord will use my writing to bless others.
❤️❤️❤️
Thanks, Olivia!