Last summer this rose put on so much growth and the blooms were so heavy that several the vine wires that support it were broken. In the winter I was determined to get the better of it; the renewed wires are stronger and from the outset the necessary support was in place so the flowers could flourish in all their beauty and be enjoyed by anyone who casts an eye at the front of our house. Roses can be so rewarding and worth the effort involved in caring for them.
You may well be familiar with Jesus’s teaching about the vine and the branches. Vines, like roses, thrive best when supported if they are a variety that grows to be large.
I wonder how many of us have tried to go it alone in our work for God. If we have done so, we may have seemed successful for a start but little by little we may have drooped and been vulnerable to wind and rain as well as pests and diseases. If we have done that we may also have realised that the problem is not insoluble. Our Father, the gardener, once we stop over exerting ourselves, will tend us and reposition the support we need to flourish again in his strength.
A prayer
Gardener God, sometimes we find our lives to be exhausting and every time we to complete another task in your Church our energies are depleted and we start to droop. We confess our fierce independence that makes us what we are but can make us less than you would have us be. Help us to stop, to take stock and allow you gently to hold us up. Help us to understand the strength of your everlasting arms in the real business of our living for you.
Amen.