It is in the actual encounters of living that we discover the many realities and thousand possibilities there are. In life, we are being taught by others, by our experiences and then by our own self how to journey with whatever we have and whoever we are--- our resources, our skills, the significant people in our lives, and then most of all, our faith so that we can keep on going no matter what.
Plants have beautiful stories of growing.Their needs must be sufficiently met but even though we left them behind at times, they just have natural way of growing. The sunlight, the wind and the rain are God’s ways of taking care of them. When we look around us, we see their beauty and then a grand showcase of how God would support so many lives.
 |
| Cebu City, Philippines |
Whether the plants don’t get enough or they get too much, they still continue to give in something to the earth even though they consume so little space-in a piece of land or in a clay pot or in a tin can, they just keep on growing.
It is in a more exciting and amazing way that we, human beings grow too. We are faced with many changes and challenges. Some are nurtured well by our parents, our caretakers, our friends,our mentors and other significant people around us. Some experienced neglect,abandonment and betrayal and it would take real experiences of love for healing to take place. Love has special way of making people care and give. It has a special way of making people understand things, even if it seems to be confusing or hard to digest. It has a special way of making people share some sunlight, or some water or some space. It has a special way of nurturing our faith.
Our story of growing is also a story of our relationship with God. There may be many distractions or frustrations that we have to bear in life, but if we never turn our path away from God we will successfully overcome anything and everything. Our faith grows when we recognize the fact that we have never been through any battle alone. God is always there for us, in every step of our growth. It is because of Him that we find joy in serving our purpose. It is through Him and with Him that we learn how to care, co-exist, and then love one another. It is through Him that we can blossom like plants.
St Thérèse of Lisieux in the first chapter of her autobiography writes: 'Perfection consists simply in doing his will, and being just what he wants us to be'. (Translation of Ronald Knox.) By 'perfection' she means 'holiness' and the image I see is that of a plant growing, not an architect's blueprint. The latter is necessary in order to build but a building isn't a living being whereas plants, animals and humans are.
ReplyDeleteSt Thérèse writes a little further on: 'If a wild flower could talk, I imagine it would tell us quite candidly about all God has done for it; there would be no point in hushing up his gifts to it, out of mock humility, and pretending that it was ugly, that it had no smell, that the sun had robbed it of its bloom, or the wind broken its stem, knowing that all that wasn't true'.
The root of the word 'humility' is 'humus', the Latin word for 'soil'. True humility, as St Thérèse implies, is rooted in the truth and accepts the gift - and the limitations. It also joyfully accepts different gifts - and imitations - in others.
Oh yes Father. Thank you for your insightful message. This leads me to think of mountains talking as well about how God takes care of them through sunrise and darkness, in storms and in winds. This leads me to think of birds talking about how God would continually feed them wherever they are, and of rivers sharing about how ever-flowing they are.
ReplyDeleteBut since its us, human beings who were given this gift of language--- in speaking, in writing, in drawing, in singing and dancing and even in our facial expressions, then may we all make use of these gifts--- humbly and with thanksgiving--- in spreading God's love to all of us...