My Daylily Dillema
Can you ever have too much of a good thing? A pleasant smell? A sweet treat? A vacation holiday? Kind words? Love? By now, most of you know that I have an affinity for flowers… most flowers, that is. My “daylily dilemma” began on Tuesday of this past week, when I decided to go after all the daylilies that crept into my flower beds last fall. Now, don’t get me wrong. I happen to like daylilies, and there’s probably some society somewhere dedicated to the preservation of them. I just don’t want them threatening the diversity of my garden where coreopsis, dianthus and iris’ live peacefully side by side. So I dug until I filled 3 large landscape bags full. One sore back, two bruised knees, and three blisters later, the scourge of the daylily infestation was over. Exhausted from my digging, I had just sat down when my neighbor popped her head over the fence and said, “Could I have those beautiful lilies you just dug up?” “Gladly!” I yelled back. “I guess one man’s trash is another man’s treasure! But where were you when I was digging?”
Jesus’ command to “love one another” is one of His final instructions to the Apostles, as He prepares to leave them in the days before His Ascension into heaven, sending them out “two by two” to proclaim the works of the Holy Spirit. In order to do this, they had to clear away any impediment that threatened to weigh them down. There was no room for insecurity, which they had to prune away in order to sow the seeds of Jesus’ love unconditionally, and grow the Church as a garden of diversity and inclusivity. We are nearing the end of the Easter season. In these final weeks before Pentecost, let us be ever mindful of Jesus’ commandment of love. The daylily is beautiful, but it threatened the diversity of my garden. Let us rid our lives of anything that threatens to upset the delicate balance of our lives, and impedes our loving. My “daylily dilemma” was solved with a shovel. What tools will you use?
