Sunday, March 27, 2022

We Will Flourish


I have a house plant (I think it’s a tradescantia) in my office. It catches the afternoon sun next to some carved hippopotamuses I bought in Ghana. I’ve had it for many years – mostly in my classroom, where I have witnessed its various stages. I’m not sure how I got it, but I think it’s a rescue plant – abandoned and neglected and saved by me, a teacher desperate for green in his classroom.

After some TLC, it quickly flowed over the white plastic pot and looked nice on my shelves with the peace lilies. A few years ago, unfamiliar with this kind of plant, it eventually dried up despite the sun and water. I kept trimming the dead stalks, but soon there wasn’t any more to remove. My teammate’s doubtful look told me there wasn’t any hope and that she’d toss it and forget it. 

I kept it. Other than the soil, it was empty. But beneath the surface, there was life.

I waited. And waited. For a long time, I kept the plantless pot on my shelf, continuing to give it water and set it near a window for natural light. Then finally, a sign of life. A thin green leaf still rolled up poked through the soil, and in a few weeks, it was flourishing. It waited until it was ready. Even though we couldn’t see it, life was always there, centimeters below the surface.

Now, as it sits on my window sill, it is coming out of another dry spell again. There are a few leaves, but there’s been a few leaves for quite a while. I expected and hoped for more by now. But I know it will flourish when it’s ready.

We are not much different. Dry spells are unavoidable, but it’s important during those times, within ourselves, we choose to grow. It could be growing spiritually, studying/learning something new or breaking bad habits. Beneath those troubled times is life, and it needs nourishment. It’s imperative to understand during those dry spells, those times of doubt and desperation, we are not forsaken.

Never.

When the time is right, we will flourish.

Always.



1 comment:

Ramona said...

Flourish is one of my favorite words and I love how you took us on this journey with your plant. I like the idea of a rescue plant and these words from your post: "When the time is right, we will flourish. Always." We need words like yours. Always.