Friday, June 02, 2006

Lessons From The Dandelion


Dandelions thrive despite the best efforts of people to kill them off. You can learn some valuable lessons from this sunshine flower.
This story is an excerpt from GLOW: Renew Your Spirit & Release Your Inner Beauty.

I recall as a young child bringing bouquets of brilliant yellow flowers to my mother. It didn't matter that the stems felt sticky or that both my parents cursed the presence of these flowers in the lawn. I thought they were beautiful!

And there were so many of them! We spent hours picking the flowers and then popping the blossoms off with a snap of our fingers. But the supply of dandelions never ran out. My father or brothers would chop off all the heads with the lawn mower at least once a week, but that didn't stop these hardy wonders.

And for those flowers that escaped the honor of being hand delivered to my mother, the horror of a childish sing-song game of "Mama had a baby and its head popped off" or the sharp blades of the lawn mower, there was another level of existence.

The soft, round puffs of a dandelion gone to seed caused endless giggles and squeals of delight as we unwittingly spread this flower across the yard.

As I worked in my garden last week, pulling unwanted weeds out of the space that would become a haven for tomatoes, corn, peas and sunflowers, I again marveled at the flower that some call a weed. And I thought, "If only I had the staying power of a dandelion."

If only I could stretch my roots so deep and straight that something tugging on my stem couldn't separate me completely from the source that feeds me life. If only I could come back to face the world with a bright, sunshiny face after someone has run me over with a lawnmower or worse, purposely attacked me in an attempt to destroy me. If only my foliage was a nutritious source of vitamins that help others grow. If only I could spread love and encouragement as freely and fully as this flower spreads seeds of itself.

I hope you and I can be different. I hope that we can stretch our roots deep enough that the strongest poison can't reach our souls. I hope that we can overcome the poisons of anger, fear, hate, criticism and competitiveness. I hope that we can see flowers in a world that sees weeds.

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5 comments:

so-obscure said...

I would say Yes, you can spread love... in fact, you already have...
That was a a thought provoking and down-to-earth write-up...nice piece!

Thanks for stopping by...and I appreciate your comment too...

Darius said...

I've had the same thought inspired by the same "weed." I guess a weed can be anything if you decide you don't want it!

Keshi said...

such an enlightening post Chris! WOW loved it. Thanks! And yes I hope too that I can overcome anger, fear, hate, criticism and competitiveness and hold my head high and be a shining light to those who need my inspiration..

Keshi.

Anonymous said...

I didn;t know that about Dandelions. Its amazing what we can learn by looking at God's creations.

Christie's Corner said...

so-obsure, thks a zillion, ure also welcome, anytime, I'll def. be checking 4 updates frm ya.

darius it's good to have u here, yes a weed can be just abt anything u wnt it to be.

keshi, I too hv always had to fight those emotions almost on a daily basis, I just pray 4 grace each day.thks 4 being here.

belle, ur so rite, if we can only stop and listen, all God's creation speak to us no matter how insignificant we think they r.thks 4 stopping by.