The Imaginary Front Porch

The minute I walked into my office this morning the orchids talked to me…boom… Monday morning and they set up a reminder for the week that I could never have put into my calendar. 

There are two orchids.  Barbara and I each received one as a gift and have been working to keep them alive and well, neither of us apparently having an orchid green thumb.  I finally left mine in her hands, the second one under my care to look like it has about two days of life left. It is also the second gift orchid since I arrived at Trinity so I feel extra guilty that I have not done well keeping it blooming. Each weekend Barbara takes them from her office and sets them just inside my door where they will get a bit more natural light. 

I couldn’t miss the contrast today. Hers has the most beautiful green leaves and not one bloom.  Mine has several blooms and not one leaf to be seen.  I stopped and studied them. If I could only somehow blend the two, we might be able to get to the perfect orchid.  I wanted to touch them together and say some magic words that would make that happen.

Walking to my desk I thought: Isn’t that just the way life is for most of us?  We so much want everything to fall into place and have it be perfect and beautiful.  Sometimes we have dark green leaves and no blooms.  Or we are producing a beautiful “flower” but it will soon wither without the proper conditions and care.  Sometimes we try our hardest, as I can tell you Barbara and I have with the orchids, but things just don’t seem to come together.  We haven’t unlocked the secret yet. And maybe we haven’t sought the assistance we need…we’re trying to do it on our own.

Not only do I identify with the orchids, which sometimes produces great envy of others who seemingly have the whole beautiful plant, but I know that everyday in my life with children there are the ones who long for the whole package, who have parts of it and are working so hard to produce the perfect combination of leaves and blooms in a particular area.  It can and does happen, but not always… and sometimes in fits and spurts that won’t quite let us give up.

Though lacking in orchid talent, I do grow wonderful day lilies.  We need to help children discover and revel in the beauty of their own daylilies, whatever they are, dividing and sharing with others, and then look for ways to cultivate the “plants” that simply don’t grow easily or beautifully yet.  

If we had time to sit on the porch with a cup of tea, I can imagine that there would be a lot of “orchid stories” to tell, with the beautiful  daylily stories woven inbetween.