Saturday, September 18, 2010

"Sticking Around"

Here's a bunch of palms growing wild in my yard. But look closely. "One of these things is not like the other." Can you see it?

Ha, here's a close up. I spotted this fallen stick in the palm. Being lazy I just left it there, knowing nature's wind would blow it out. But.....
A week later and and it's still there. A rather interesting thing is happening.
The plant appears to be accepting the stick as part of itself. Should I leave it and see what happens? If you look at the first picture, the stick is already changing the "personality" of the plant. It's bending to accommodate the stick.

"Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me." Psalm 51:10

It's a natural thing for sticks of anger, bitterness, nagging, or even apathy...and so on to fall on me. But it's against God's creation for me to leave those sticks there. I've found that if they hang around too long, my personality changes.

Lord let the winds of Your Spirit blow out all the useless sticks from my life.

Photo:karenevans

16 comments:

Amy DeTrempe said...

While we should get rid of our own sticks, I would be interested to see what the palm does with this one. I've not seen anything like that before.

Diane said...

Great reminder. I need to do some pruning and not let things attach onto me so easily. :O)

Melinda said...

Karen, I always love your ability to make amazing spiritual connections to God's creation. This is such a great reminder. ;0)

Kathy Cassel said...

Looks like a cross to me.

Libbie said...

You might be breaking up a love story here if you get rid of it :) Looks like they were meant to be :) My mom would get rid of it...I'd leave it :)

Karen said...

Amy, I am going to leave it and see what happens. It is strange.

Diane, yep, I need a good shaking out every now and then. :)

Melinda, thank you for your sweet, as always, words.

Kathy, I didn't notice that! You are so right!

Libbie...smile...love your story. I will leave it, to see what happens.

alicia said...

This is a great lesson! Your connections around you never cease to amaze me. Thanks for this, once again!

Clella said...

Karen, what a neat post. You do good things with words friend.Clella

Hilary said...

You certainly have the gift to see Life's lessons everywhere you look. I'm happy to know you.

Karen said...

Alicia, oh, you make me blush.

Clella, thank you, dear friend.

Hilary, it's just my quirky way. I feel the same way about you, blessings**

Analisa said...

At first I thought it was one of those stick looking insects. Loved this it is so true that negative things can take root in our hearts. We must be mindful of our "sticks' as you so wonderfully put it. Great post.

Karen said...

Analisa, yes, it does look like that! Oh, I tried to leave a comment on your blog-but the word verification wouldn't let me. I'll try later. Probably the internet imp!

Rosaria Williams said...

This is an interesting study, light and dark. Is that an insect camouflaging?

Anonymous said...

Lord let the winds of Your Spirit blow out all the useless sticks from my life.

And I add my Amen to your prayer

Jeanette Levellie said...

Wow. The plant has adjusted to the stick. Although we don't want to adjust to the sin in our lives, I think you should leave the stick there to see what happens!

I love your analogies.

Jen

Karen said...

Lakeviewer, no it's actually a stick, just stuck there.

Ron, thank you.

Jeanette, I have decided to leave it. I suspect the winds will blow it out...but we'll see.