Pastoral Ponderings- Houseplants

Have you ever heard your houseplants fussing at you, or begging for more water or fertilizer?  I don’t recall ever hearing them, even when they’re dying of thirst (not that that happens TOO much…)—and I daresay that would be a memorable experience!

When we were in seminary, we had a lovely vining plant that we or I had had for several years—I think it was a philodendron.  It seemed happy and healthy enough, hanging in the bright, sunny bathroom window.  Then we left for the summer, and entrusted its care to a young neighbor.  When we came back and went to pick it up—its growth had exploded, growing more in those three months than it had in the past three years, in the same kind of bathroom window facing the same sunny direction.  It had grown so much, it was deeply entangled in the blinds in the girl’s bathroom.

Since we realized it obviously loved her more than us (though she said it was her heavy metal music tastes it responded so well to), and being so entangled, we just let her keep it!  Though it grew so much better for her, we never heard a peep from the plant all the time we had it, saying it needed more this, that, or the other thing (or heavy metal music, for that matter).

Have you ever noticed that our lives of faith are in some ways like our houseplants?  They bless us and others in their beauty, in their blossoms, often in their reproductive giving—anybody want any spider plant or aloe vera babies?  Yet they—like our lives of faith—never fuss or complain, and are not vocal at all when we neglect them, even when they’re desperate for water or feeding.  When we have eyes to see and pay attention, they show us signs of growth, as well as signs of need—and they usually respond joyfully to our care and attentions.

Have you been taking time to notice how you’re doing in your faith journey?  Have you been intentional in the care and feeding of your relationship with God, or might it be quietly showing signs of needing care, like my aloe, or even desperation, like my Christmas cactus?

Your house plants and your faith can only be a blessing to you, to others, when you are intentional in caring for it, regular in watering it, and when you keep it bathed in the light of the Son.  Keep on growing!                       –Pastor Jim