The water is babbling through the creek, Rhododendrons are in bloom, white, violet, deep purple. Bright orange Azaleas, sky blue Lobelia, Pink Therese Bugnet set against green Ferns and Lilies. There are some Forget-Me Nots and Jacob’s Ladder. Carnations, Oregon Grape, Columbine, Astilbe, Geum, Geranium and Sweet Woodruf sprawl across the ground intermingling with one-another. There is an almost audible expectancy and awe in the air as the sun shines down giving its precious life to each and every happy faced seeker.
A shot our fountain and one of our Healing Gardens
Even now as I write I am laying in the grass watching the splendor of the afternoon bring sweet serenity to the air. An ant crawling through the grass just found my keyboard. I wonder if it could lift this computer, and I shouldn’t be supprised if I find the screen inching away from me momentarily.
Do flowers feel and know or are they just there? I think they know more than most of us ever take time to appreciate. The Impatients and Maiden Hair Ferns sit in their pot joyfully stretching out, smiling to tell their story of God’s wonderful light. Somehow they don’t need words or they would speak. Their existence is more profound and more elegant than mere words. To me, flowers are a testimony to God’s ever-pervading presence and goodness. Each plant is so beautifully crafted, with its instructions for life already in place – yet so changeable, so adaptable. Show me anything man-made that is so perfect, so alive. If each plant were programed like a computer, each rose would look exactly like the next one. How much sun do they get? How much water? Is the soil full of nutrients? Does it drain properly? A plant cannot get up and walk to a more preferable spot if it thinks the conditions might be better. A flower is utterly dependent, upon so many things! Not just water, but water, food, temperature, soil, a mate, or mates, being kept safe from animals, bugs, disease. Yet did you ever see a more eager, more trusting, dedicated creation than a pansy? What joy in bursting forth at the first sign of spring, what rugged determination when it is cold, to keep pushing up, continue searching for light and water, as if everything in the world depended on it, yet without effort.
Think for a moment about us as people. We struggle to maintain a control of our environment to such a degree that if my morning coffee is 10 minutes late it throws off my whole day. What if it rains for the soccer game this afternoon? Does that mean God has forgotten me, or is He just displeased with me? Why is the rain necessarily bad?
We people worry about money more than anything. We look around, trying to figure out where our next paycheck is coming from, or if the stock market is up or down; how we are going to put the kids through college, or how we are going to buy groceries for dinner tonight.
Why would God take care of and love a Pansy more than you? You who are made in His own image and likeness, you who He gave His own Son for! God is not withholding anything from you! How could God, who calls Himself our Father not give us abundantly all that we need and desire? If you doubt this just look at at flower. How simple, how beautiful, how utterly dependent on God for everything! How faithful He is. Let us now open up our hearts and just trust in the goodness that is everywhere. Maybe we could throw off some ballast and experience Joy!
Think of Heaven
I encourage you to take some time out of your busy day and marvel at the the intricate beauty of a flower or a whole garden. Stare at it long enough to realize that God really is taking care of the plants, and doing a good job of it! Feel their gratitude and give a little of it to somebody you meet. Maybe all you need is to smile.
God loves you, too. More than you know. Are you more important than a little flower? I think so.