At long last, the dahlias are blooming. Their rich colours, dense
petals and exuberant foliage lift the spirit. This year, they are skirted with bright
orange nasturtiums and have a hydrangea with a lovely magenta hue resting like
an epaulette on one shoulder.
We are not meticulous gardeners. Everything is verging on
the rewilding idea. Surprising plants spring up, like the brambles which rooted
themselves in behind the dahlias and are producing fruit that is juicy and
delicious. But the vigour of these bramble bushes threatens to overwhelm the
carefully cultivated plants. They need pruning.
Life can imitate this garden of ours. We start out with an
idea and a plan, and sometimes that can flourish and fruit and be beautiful. Surprising
things can take root without our noticing them, and they can be productive and
nourishing, but left untended, they can overwhelm that for which we have
planned. It takes wisdom and prayer to identify those things which should be
nurtured, and those which should be pruned.
Jesus uses garden imagery to describe the relationships
between him and us, and between him and the Father. As I offer up my life to
him today, may he prune those things which might inhibit the flowering and
fruiting he is seeking in and through me. I am so grateful that like all good
gardeners, he is alert the detail of my life, working carefully and
meticulously to help me be all I can be.
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