LIVING PEACE
The chicks
are nearly gone from the nest, so my wife and I began to think that it might be
time to “Down Size.” So driving
around our town a couple of years ago we came across a little place that was
being remodeled. They had done a
lot of work, and in the end it became too expensive for us.
One
Sunday evening I went by the place to see how it was being finished up. The contractor had torn out the old
landscaping and piled it by the side of the house. Not much of a pile.
Two things caught my eye.
Near the top of the stack were the roots and the tuber of an iris. Sure enough the leaf blades were
buried, and confirmed the plant to me.
The other plant I saw was a very small wood vine/Virginia Creeper. I grabbed them both and brought them
home.
Two
years ago I planted two orphan plants in my garden. They were trash to the contractor. I thought we could always give them a home. The wood vine is now growing up a
trellis I made from a dead tree.
Last week the iris bloomed for us for the first time. It is a brilliant solid color of
periwinkle. It isn’t a huge
bloom. It is the color of the
bridesmaids’ dresses for our wedding, though. I have named her Peace.
Peace
will remind me every time I look at her of my commitment to my wife 25 years
ago. It will also remind me that
the worst attack on the love and peace of God is abandonment. We must collect the abandoned creatures
of God, our neighbors, and never let them feel scraped up and thrown away. It is a step towards peace.
In Christ's love,
Fr. Robert Pax
