Passion flower

A few months after my family moved into the house where we currently reside, a neighbor gave us a passion flower that he had removed from his yard. He explained how he had tried to rid his garden of the plant (as it tended to grow rampantly and take over) but continued to find it growing there. He also assured us that , if we grew it in a container, it would remain manageable. Having a newly constructed home with not much in the way of landscape, I was excited. I planted the vine in a large pot and stationed it where I believed that it would most enhance the garden. It quickly acclimated to its new surroundings and began to grow lush greenery. Over the next few growing seasons, it stretched and crept up the trellis that I had provided for it and I watered and fed the plant looking forward to the promised blossoms. Those never came.

During one of my aforementioned morning walks last summer, I noticed that another neighbor a few blocks over had a passionflower, in full bloom, in their front garden. In addition to the flowers, their vine also had also began to fruit. I was astonished, not realizing prior to that, that obtaining passion fruit in this climate was even a possibility. For the duration of the summer, I continued to faithfully water and feed my vine hoping to one day find a bud developing. But, my much sought after blossom never materialized.

Last fall, when my disappointment had reached its peak, I took aggressive action. I whacked the plant back and moved it to a new location with full sun. I believe that the other spot was too shaded. As beautiful as the green foliage is, I want this plant to exhibit all of the beauty that it was created to. Anything less is a compromise.

In John 15, Jesus states,"I am the vine and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit...if a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me he can do nothing." My experience with gardening deepens this illustration for me. The passion flower vine at present adds nice greenery but is more decorative than purposeful. The flowers would lend additional eye-candy appeal. But fruit would elevate the plant completely from merely being a showy specimen, to a source of nourishment. When God calls us into fellowship and we respond to that call, He does not do so solely for our own benefit. While it is true that we avoid the wages of sin (death and hell), we also are to mature into useful, fruit bearing parts of the vine that feed and nourish with the fruits of spiritual maturity yielded from remaining in "full son."

I really hope that my little passion flower blooms this summer, but more than that, I hope that my life hangs heavy with the Fruits of the Spirit.

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control." Galatians 5:22-23 NIV

Handmade

The other night, I was preparing to make mashed potatoes for dinner when I realized that my potato peeler was missing. I was saddened. It had been a great little tool, faultlessly shearing off thin strips of skin while leaving the tuber below intact. I had owned it for over ten years and it still performed effortlessly. I must have inadvertently discarded it with the vegetable shavings the last time that I used it.

I searched online for a replacement and discovered that the company from which I purchased my beloved Swedish peeler had eliminated it from their product line. In lieu, the company now offers one made in a large Asian country (that shall remained unnamed) which is responsible for the lion's share of the world's mass production at great detriment to the health of it's citizens. I grimaced and continued my search. My sorrow soon dissolved when I found an instrument made by hand in a small, French, village. It has a beautiful wooden handle and was reasonably priced. I'd found my new peeler.

I share this not to be pretentious, but because I find that there is joy in using an instrument so lovingly handcrafted by a master artisan, rather than some gadget haphazardly stamped out by a machine which creates widgets and pollution in equal measure. The fingerprint of the maker stays with the object long after it has left the master's hands. It is apparent that such things are created thoughtfully, with love and purpose. Such things, I treat with reverence and enjoy using them all the more for being a beneficiary of such artistry.

So it is with us. We are "fearfully and wonderfully made" with divine purpose and precision. I am surrounded by incredible individuals in my life who, regardless of whether they acknowledge the Creator or not, bear His markings in the gifts and talents that they exhibit. In fact all of creation with its diverse complexity loudly sings in harmony of the Master Artisan from which it is derived and should be treated with reverence. For, despite our best efforts to mass produce the created things, we fall miserably short, making only ineffective widgets and deadly pollution, in equal measure.

Bottomless

The lyrics to a favorite song of mine begin, "There are wonders in the Ocean that the beach cannot know..." The song then reprises, "I must go down deep to know the sea." I have always loved the song but last weekend I had an opportunity to witness first hand some of those hidden wonders of which the songwriter speaks.

My sweetheart and I celebrated our seventeenth wedding anniversary at Cannon Beach on the Oregon coast. It is a favorite spot of ours and one that I have frequently visited since I was a small child. While we were there, the waiter at our bed and breakfast informed us that the tide was low and that we should drive four miles to Hug Point and check out some fascinating landscape. We heeded his advice and were not disappointed. There were caves to explore, sea creatures to photograph, and a waterfall cascading down the rock wall that, according to a fellow beachcomber, was featured in the film "Goonies." The next morning we checked out of our hotel and decided to take a last stroll on the beach. I have walked that stretch of beach near Haystack Rock numerous times and photographed it almost as often. This time with the tide being low, we were able to see an entire "Marine Garden" that we never knew existed near the base of the rock. As it turns out, Haystack is the largest of a number of rocks in the vicinity and each barnacled rock teems with life.

I see once again how the natural world emulates the spiritual. It is possible to live on the surface with the Lord and never discover the wonders that are hidden in Him. And, unlike the ocean, He is bottomless.