The Flowers

In the midst of the cur­rent world­wide eco­nomic cri­sis, it is easy to lose per­spec­tive. Whole­sale panic has not yet begun. How­ever, there has been an early rash of sui­cides. The aver­age per­son is hang­ing on pretty well, but with cau­tion. There is a low-lying “wait and see” atti­tude. Every­thing has not come to a grind­ing halt, though some busi­nesses have closed. There are a few more For Sale signs around the neighborhoods.

It helps to live sim­ply and be a bit fru­gal — just as a mat­ter of Chris­t­ian stew­ard­ship. How­ever, despite eco­nomic uncer­tainty, it pays to “kill the fat­ted calf” or “break the alabaster box” and cel­e­brate. God knows our needs. The belief that we are down here alone is demor­al­iz­ing. Economies come and go. Nat­ural bless­ings and occa­sional cat­a­stro­phes are part of the life cycle. Some­how life itself continues.

What mat­ters most is per­spec­tive. It is amaz­ing how inse­cure we can be in such a pros­per­ous land. It is also a les­son of faith. It takes courage to lift your eyes from the bank state­ment to watch the birds or enjoy a flower. This was Jesus’ method of deal­ing with our inner finan­cial and social inse­cu­ri­ties. “Behold the lilies of the field. They do not work nor worry, and yet they are more beau­ti­ful than Solomon’s robes” (my own per­sonal trans­la­tion). God made the flow­ers and the peo­ple. The sec­ond are more valu­able than the first. Flow­ers are there to remind us of the ever-present care and beauty of God. We are here to share life at a level higher than the flow­ers — but per­haps a lit­tle lower than the angels.

Phys­i­cal life is tem­po­rary but designed to have its beau­ties any­way. Pon­der the plants. The world is full of them. Some live for thou­sands of years (the Giant Red­woods). Some live only for hours. Either way, there is life. Of all the crea­tures and plants on the earth, only humans have bank accounts.