Desert Rose

Desert Rose: I remember (as I wrote below) that in prayer one day I was given a reflection on my life as a desert rose... Now this doesn't mean that I will physically always live in a desert or that I like hot things better than cold. Like a missionary, with the grace of God I can flourish anywhere:

This is symbolic. But looking that picture up the other day surprised me -I always thought it was a little flower hidden in dirt when in reality these things grow to be 10 feet tall. They are giants in the desert. The root system is complicated, thick and deep -like over the years how Jesus took me on lots of paths, to lots of places, people, etc... it was a big root system.. (mission life).

Then came three years as a hermit where all those seeds and paths came together in one huge main trunk (hermit life) -even more hours of prayer, soaking in the Eucharist, gaining strength... for my people.

And then at the end come beautiful flowers -that's the part of our lives that we see in heaven -that people see from afar. I'm not seeing my flowers quite yet. 

Funny as well is that they ''have a very special value to bees..." :) Honey (sweetness) comes from a tough desert flower -tree actually -Kinda like how when we keep our hearts resting in God's hand in the midst of any/all action, others are given sweet drink.

Someone told me once that they mistakenly thought that to 'just be' with God meant to sit frozen doing nothing. Actually the existential soteriological meaning of 'be' (Existential is - relating to existence; Soteriological is –having to do with salvation) -had to do with an interior state of my heart's union with His Sacred Heart and His Mother's Immaculate Heart in the midst of my life in the world. 

Basically: what I always wanted to live –

1       1.) Keep your head (mind) in heaven –(Jesus said, ‘Give me your mind and I’ll make you all heart.’)

      2.) Keep your heart on the Cross with Jesus (remembering that there is the fruit of the Holy Spirit in this.)

3.)    Keep your feet on the ground (practical –be accessible –hide complexity of God in simplicity of love)..

It is considered a 'very odd plant' -like me (Sister Tatiana always called me an 'artistic vocation') and a plant that grows best when neglected...' (I don't really like that part -I mean, Jesus is the best guide, but I appreciate deep, rich relationships).

One more funny thing is that:

"The sap of Adenium boehmianum, A. multiflorum, and A. obesum contains toxic cardiac glycosides and is used as arrow poison throughout Africa for hunting large game." 

Maybe the 'sap' of my life's love with Jesus poisons the bad guy... I hope so...

Anyway, its incredible for me to discover a new dimension in my spiritual life -kinda like 'Wow -what in the world are You doing, Jesus... this is different than I thought.'

It is very right-brained to think symbolically, but I tend to be both right and left brained and I appreciated this -so maybe there's some left-brainer out there who can also similarly appreciate God's sense of humor in leaving me for 20 years thinking I was called to this:

or this:

When I was truly called to this:

The lesson: We are all called to be different. What flower or plant are you called to be in God's Garden? Don't try to imitate another person.

 Be who you are...

Jesus we trust in You. +

“Jesus deigned to teach me this mystery. He set before me the book of nature; I understood how all the flowers He has created are beautiful, how the splendor of the rose and the whiteness of the Lily do not take away from the perfume of the little violet or the delightful simplicity of the daisy. I understood that if all flowers wanted to be roses, nature would lose her springtime beauty, and the fields would no longer be decked out with little wild flowers.

“And so it is in the world of souls, Jesus’ garden. He willed to create great souls comparable to Lilies and roses, but He has created smaller ones and these must be content to be daisies or violets destined to give joy to God’s glances when He looks down at his feet. Perfection consists in doing His will, in being what He wills us to be.

“….It is with great happiness, then, that I come to sing the mercies of the Lord with you, dear Mother. It is for you alone I am writing the story of the little flower gathered by Jesus.” -St. Therese of Liseux