Beauty and the Beast

It was the wrestling match of the month! I hope nobody was watching.

My intention was to buy some plant tags. One quick stop and then home. But it was a nice day, and the stroll through the plants would be so pleasant! I never know what I'll find there, but the lure is persistent. The garden sings such an ethereal song, and even at the nursery the song fragments find me if I take the time to listen.

I almost missed these little ones. A row of pines in little black pots, back in the corner. Pinus parviflora 'Cleary'... Pinus parviflora 'Ara kawa'. I could fill my heart with pines. Soft, inviting, beautiful, fragrant, tough. Into the cart they went.

Halfway down the walkway I turn back. If I wait, I can buy at a discount. I already have some potting to do. With resolve I return them to their places and walk away. But no, one is somewhat rare, and they might be gone in two days... Their arms reach for me like jubilant playful children.

Now they are safely home with me. The singing and laughter won me over. Cleary will be the first to be planted. I have the perfect pot for his glowing teal color.

Something isn't right. He comes easily out of his small plastic pot to reveal a troubled core. He is beautiful on the outside, severely dysfunctional below the surface. He's been in the pot for so long that the roots have grown around and created a deadly noose. The resinous pine sap has glued the rootball into a solid mass, sealing his doom.

Time to run once again to my mysterious benefactors at Conifer U. They assimilate and guard the collective confer knowledge of hundreds of years and thousands of brilliant minds. If Cleary can be saved, they will know how to do it.

Patiently they offer advice based on their years of experience and plant knowledge. He has one chance to live. I will need to soak the roots, break loose the glue, spread the roots apart and put him into the perfect dirt. I become the surgeon.



Soaking the rootball

 

Loosening the roots

 

A new chance at life



Now it is up to him and the life inside him. I've done all I can. He has been released from this choking prison. As I ponder the wonder of life and enjoy the rush of gratitude for my forum friends, my Creator drops a picture into my mind. This intractible rootball is so like the hardness inside some people. On the outside they seem beautiful, but inside their life is being slowly choked away. It can be hardness toward God, bitterness or unforgiveness toward others, selfishness, or in a few cases, just plain evil hearts. But all these people have one thing in common. The fullness of life that God planned for them will never be able to escape the choking death and bondage ahead unless the Master Gardener sends help. I'm so glad He can look into the hidden places of our heart and see our need!

Go, Cleary! You can make it! I'm cheering for you and wishing you fullness of life!