Weed or Flower?

            This weekend, I planted my annual gardens. Normally my annual gardens are herbs and vegetables; but on a whim at the garden centre I purchased some calla lilies. And while they are beautiful, they also brought back wonderful memories.

            A few years ago, I was travelling to PWRDF partners in the Philippines, and we saw calla lilies at the side of the road. I was amazed; our hosts were not - turns out there, they are weeds.

            To my North American eyes - what very pretty weeds!

            This made me recall when I was hosting a friend from Nairobi, here in Southern Ontario. Walking along a patch of grass, he stopped to admire a gorgeous yellow flower that was blooming so abundantly in the grass. He picked one, showed his wife, even sang a song about the beauty of God's creation - revealed to him in this bright yellow flower.

            It was a dandelion.

            We showed him how to find one ready to seed, and the joy on his face when he blew those seeds to the wind was absolutely blissful.

            To his eyes, our 'weed' was a stunning delight.

            I think we are offered innumerable opportunities to look around our lives, and see and appreciate the beauty that is there. We are encouraged to see that there is always something waiting, not to be revealed but to be acknowledged.

            God provides these realities to us, inviting us to open our eyes anew. What is a pest to one person is a thing of great beauty to another; what is ordinary and overlooked by one person is extraordinary and breathtaking to someone else.

            Perhaps our great privilege is to be reminded of these variances in perspective; to take some time and intentionally go out to discover what beauty is in our immediate vicinity. Imagine if we removed the connotations and associations we place on things, and simply opened our eyes to beauty: in flowers, in sunsets, in people... I'll pray this summer my lilies inspire me to see that beauty.