My friend Amanda Craft and I worked together for a several years with the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program. She left first, going to Guatemala as a mission co-worker with the IENPG (the National Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Guatemala) in women’s leadership development.
Amanda blogs about her ministry. Her reflection on the recent Lenten season focused on, among other things, the color purple. Acknowledging purple as the liturgical color for Lent, Amanda reflects about purple flowers – purple jacaranda blossoms actually:
The dried flower arrangements that adorn doorways are filled with purple flowers. Howev
er, what I have not noticed before are the purple jacaranda blossoms. Jacaranda trees are tall and large, and when the flowers are in bloom they pack the limbs as if they are leaves. The flowers are small and delicate giving off a soft, sweet smell. Guatemalans respect these seemingly insignificant blossoms for their medicinal properties. Boiling the flowers in a tea is a natural alternative to calming microbial infections in the digestive system (a common problem in Guatemala).
The irony is not lost on me. Here is a purple flower that has healing properties enjoying full bloom during a liturgical season focused on healing. God has such an interesting was of speaking, no? Jesus’ death is significant since it was a divine act meant to heal the many wrongs, shortcomings, and sins of the world. I am reminded of this through a tiny tree blossom. The power to heal does not have to come from something grandiose, but through delicate, small acts that have the capacity to transform.
With Amanda, I challenge myself to notice more small, healing, transforming acts.
The photograph was taken on 17th June 2004 by Stephen Lea in San Luis Obispo. It is found on the Wikimedia Commons under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.
See you along the Trail.
Along the Graybeard Trail 