AS A YOUTH, I had the most difficult time understanding that plants were alive. As a young adult, I now understand that not only are they alive, but they are very similar to us as human beings. Aside from the obvious biological similarities, which is such that plants need food, water, and air just as we humans do, I was reminded this week of an amazing analogy by His Grace Bishop Angelos. His Grace analogized our intimate relationships with a plant that is grown out of season. It is well understood that a plant cannot grow out of season, it will simply wither and die. But if a plant is out of season, it can safeguarded and sustained in a greenhouse until it is ready to grow and bear fruits.Plants are beautiful, but are very delicate. In the ignorance of my youth, I would wonder why people put so much time in effort into something so volatile, something that, on paper, held no constructive value (referring to plants of course). But I realized, that some things simply cannot be quantified. They just are. The reward is always worth the struggle. "There is a time and a place for everything" my mother would always say, but now the old adage doesn't only refer to me playing basketball to avoid homework.
2 comments:
I liked this, it made me pause and think on a lot. It made me think not only on working for rewards, but also on beauty. I am sometimes playfully mocked for my love of gardening (not the most masculine of activities I admit), but there is a good degree satisfaction from the pursuit. Beauty, in gardening and in all things, can come from effort and time. It always brings satisfaction. Beauty in life is important, as is cultivating beauty within oneself and one's spirit.
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