I’m no gardening expert, despite years of exposure to Gardening Australia at my grandparents’ house. I’ve discovered that I’m very good at keeping peace lilies alive, but aside from that, the most hardy succulent will come to its demise at my house, even with my best efforts of care. I’ve been known to give up on a plant that’s been 'too hard to save'. Once I throw a bit of effort in a particularly struggling plant’s direction and it doesn’t respond, I kind of leave it in the back sunroom and let nature take its course. However, when I got married, I discovered all these struggling plants finding their way onto my kitchen bench at different times and then beginning to flourish. It was quite the marvel. I asked my husband, Jono, one day, “Have you been saving these plants? I was sure they were too far gone.” He replied, “They just needed a little extra care and time." Jono is undoubtedly a much more patient human than I am and every day I am grateful for that.
As we come into the Easter season, I see the value of patience become glaringly obvious. When Jesus came to this earth, He surely had to practise high levels of patience. He came and witnessed a pretty broken version of humanity, one that was often quite self-serving and too easily wrote off with individuals that didn’t fit into the 'normal' box. And it’s this version of humanity that He chose to die for. Jesus displayed to humanity that we all need to be more forgiving, generous, loving and patient towards each other. And knowing that we’d probably trip up and fail at this at times, He still chose to give His life so that we may gain a much more abundant life when He comes again one day.
Jesus didn’t, and will never, write us off as 'too hard to save' like I do with my plants. He sees that we all, 'just need a little extra care and time'. And every day I am grateful for that!
Pr Miki Nilon
Chaplain
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