One of my favorite social distancing explores takes me down by the Savannah River, where everything’s beginning to wake up and turn green. There is a very curious plant that grows wild along the path. It has beautiful white flowers nestled against the toughest green two inch thorny spikes you can imagine. The familiar name for the plant if Crown of Thorns.
The thorns could be the overwhelming feature of this plant, if one isn’t willing to look beyond them at the flowers. Another observation on that same walk…my neighbors…all choosing flowers in the middle of the thorns. Here they are, with their normal lives turned upside down, keeping themselves to home and family, and doing a great job of it!
Flowers amid thorns I saw on my walk? Two sister riding bikes around their driveway. A dad watching two littles play with bubbles as they laughed and run about. A family outside; dad and daughter drawing with chalk on the driveway while mom and big sister shoot hoops. Another dad running with his two young sons, slowing his pace to make it a together activity. Two teenage sisters washing the family car. No one I met (from a distance) complained about the situation. Instead, they were looking at the positives by making this time count.
What flowers you’re finding? Learning to cook something new? Straightening out the kitchen junk drawer? Weeding the flower beds? Writing notes to friends? Checking in virtually on the people who need your attention? Spending focused time with your living companions? Psalms 133:1 says “How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in peace!” So, in the middle of some thorny times, get out there and find the flowers!
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