Clinging On
Life will go on.
The Common Daisy
Out on a walk I noticed this daisy, flourishing from a crack, in a brick wall. The contrast in colours, location and tenacity of the little flower caused me to pause and enjoy the moment.
Close to 6 ft from the ground, with no other visible daisy in view, this plant was a loner and survivor. This little plant, in occupying this small space in the vast universe bears testimony to the tenacity, uniqueness and splendour of life.
As an amateur gardener, I am frustrated by the weeds that grow quicker than the plants I want to see thrive. Yes, I pull out weeds, trim branches and prune back the competitive flora in our section of garden. Each of the weeds and plants that do not fit the vision I have for the garden (very misty vision that it is), are stewarded to allow those ‘selected’ to flourish. So this pattern of selection continues continuously, some by design, some by seasonal default and some by random acts of nature.
This little plant, despite the odds is staking its claim and doing life to the full. It is not in a manicured flower bed, it is not among its own kind, it has a tenuous hold on life somehow finding sustenance way off the ground in a brick wall.
For a split second the urge to pull the ‘weed’ - muscle-memory from pulling other daisy plants growing in cracks of my driveway - almost won out. But something about this little plant stopped me.
Each day we get to make multiple small decisions, the effect of which we may never see or know about. Nobody would even notice if I had pulled this ‘noxious’ weed from the wall. In the ‘grand-scheme’ of things, pulling a weed from a wall, is unlikely to matter. The question I pondered was, ‘Why should I pull this weed out?’ Further to that thought, I wondered about the other instinctive ‘weed-pulling’ I might do in my life when commenting on others, the choices they make and even the choices I make.
For many people who are clinging to life much like this daisy; alone, isolated, vulnerable, in a place they never would have chosen to ‘live’ - way up the ‘brick wall’ - they are doing the best they can do. This little plant is doing the best it can do.
Everyday, all around us, there are ‘daisies’ doing life who can be plucked arbitrarily by ‘caring weed-pullers’. This red brick wall was all the more charming for the little pop of colour and bravery of this little plant.
How we extend the hand of grace and mercy, especially to the vulnerable, makes all the difference in our world and the world we will leave behind.
“For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe. He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing. Love the sojourner, therefore, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.” (Deu 10:17-19)