A flower is so much more than what my eye can see. It is a culmination of all that came before it. Not only sunshine, earth and water - tho each a miracle - but so much growth, tension, even a death. Stretching, rending, a splitting open of what was before new growth can begin. Then another stretching, pushing up and reaching toward the light. And all among so many perils to its existence -drought, disease, burrowing, eating, stomping, mowing over, ploughing under and on and on the dangers go.

When I see a blooming flower I am reminded of the complexities of living. We must survive so many unseen things, miracles! to become alive and flourish. They say 10,000 things must go exactly right for a baby to be born and without just one of those things life can end before it even begins. I think we can all agree that every baby is a miracle of the Creator. Living breathing becoming. And for those willing to see, a flower, a much more common grace, a lesser miracle, can remind us of the joy and hope of new birth, new beginnings. Of strength, of perseverance and resilience.

“To find joy in the sky, the trees, the flowers. There are always flowers for those who want to see them.” Henri Matisse, Jazz