Yes, it did snow yesterday, but today onward is spring! The flowers! The birds! Temperatures above freezing!
Some early spring flowers are already blooming – the daffodils, the Lenten roses, the snowdrops, the crocuses. They have been lying in cold darkness all winter long waiting for the sun’s warmth to call them to glory. Rich shades of violet, brilliant yellows, and pure, delicate whites are breaking up the monotonous brown of our DC winter. It stirs the gardener in me.
I was considering these spring flowers and thinking of all the lovely little children who live in orphanages. Little ones are like the bulbs growing in spring. If they are cared for lovingly, with warm mulch covering their bed to keep off the harsh winter chill, fertilized with just the right nutrient mix, with the weeds removed so that their roots can absorb the water of the spring rains freely – their little leaves and buds spring up at the very first warm week of the season. They are soon in bloom, swaying in the gentle breezes and withstanding the fierce spring showers with strength and grace.
There are other flowers though, growing in other conditions… a neglected bed needing some weeding but still with flowers thrusting their heads through the weeds with determination and still shining out in the midst of the chaos that surrounds them. A little love and attention will often set them right.
But then there are the poor little bulbs who just happen to grow under a construction site… they are covered with piles of rocks and rubble, pounded by feet and rolled over by heavy equipment. Yes, some do manage to survive, to squeeze upward in between the cracks in some wayward corner. Their stems are twisted and they could be broken at any moment by some careless worker or circumstance. Yes, they do sometimes bloom even… but they lack luster, they droop, their leaves may be torn, they are small, pathetic little things. No one waters them, fertilizes them, or removes the obstacles blocking their growth. Some, many, may not even survive. It’s a dangerous place for a sweet little plant!
What should we do then? We can’t move the construction site… and even if we could, it would take longer than these little ones have to live. The only solution to these little flowers is to transplant them! Dig them up very carefully and take them to a new bed with soft soil and plenty of water and nourishment! Twisted stems will be straightened and staked. The dead leaves of neglect trimmed away to allow for new, fresh growth. Shield them from the sun and the wind as their strength grows. Watch as their life returns with vigor! It may take a while for leaves to grow or for buds to emerge. It’s true that some of these little ones may never recover fully… some will always have that twist to the stem or missing branch. But that will not stop them from growing! They will bloom with radiant glory! Life is stirred up by love...
Some people would leave these little ones were they are… out of sight in the rubble of poverty, neglect, and rejection. I cannot. I feel their sorrow and pain and loneliness – I cannot wait to transplant my little one! I will be the gardener to his or her little soul and body. I will do my best to straighten the bent caused by cruelty, to sooth the pain of rejection, to heal the wounds left by no one being there to rock them to sleep, change their diapers, or even give them a drink of water. Out of all these things, however, I most look forward to loving them to life as they have never been loved before!
Yes, what a privilege it will be to parent such a brilliant flower as our child!
No comments:
Post a Comment