Orchids and Trust

Orchids and Trust (excerpt from 0:08 min)

I have this orchid. Perhaps I should have brought it with me. But anyway, it's a glorious orchid. It's just fuchsia in coloring. It's about this high. And when it was first given to me, it had all of these beautiful blossoms on it. And the person who gave it to me, I said to her, "Look, I'm just going to kill this thing." And she said, "No, Lynn, just feed it three ice cubes every Friday." And sure enough, that's what I did. And for the better part of four months, that orchid was a perfect bloom. And then suddenly, almost just overnight, it began to look wilted, and within three weeks all of those glorious blooms fell to the ground. I just kept giving it three ice cubes every Friday, and I waited and wondered about what its future would be. And then, lo and behold, what are we in now, and it's June. End of April, one blossom after another showed up, and it looked as healthy and as as it did on the day that was gifted to me. Wow, how did that happen? And then about a week ago, I noticed one of the blooms looking a little tired. And sure enough, here we are 10 days later, and half of the blooms have disappeared again. I think about that passage from Ecclesiastes, "There's a season for everything."

And at the same time, I think about how we as products of Western culture live a lot of our lives defying those seasons. We're not crazy about those seasons to begin with. Oh, the aging season. Ooh, let's see if we can turn back time. I know I've spent enough of my own time trying to do that. But also recognizing particularly in this summer that this whole season of blooming and blossoming shows up and it's like, "Wow, where does the power come from?" It's not human driven. Yet so many initiatives, I think, in our world have been driven by the human species, and in this pandemic we are seeing that some of those initiatives, as wondrous as we might have thought they were, have profound cracks in them.

And so I'm paying attention to this orchid, and it's giving me access to another understanding of power and grace. And it's a power and a grace that is so completely not dependent on me, give or take a few ice cubes. And it is inviting me to consider what it means to trust these natural seasons, these natural rhythms, and what it might mean to trust that this pandemic season may come with its own invitation to trust forces, graces, intention that are much deeper than we could ever have imagined.

Covid Sunday practice - For Times Such as This, Living with Curiosity, Creativity & Courage