The flowers we ordered from one of the local Boy Scout Troops arrived last Saturday. One of the scouts left them on our front porch. We had been out for most of the day but, when we returned home early that evening, the porch was bright with color.
They were truly beautiful. Each flower in full color flourishing inside its own carton of rich soil surrounded by other equally bright and colorful flowers.
We gathered up each tray of flowers and carried them to the back porch where we had planned to transplant them into larger and deeper pots the following Saturday. That seemed reasonable. Besides, Pam and I were facing a busy week ahead. Saturday was the only free day on our calendars. The flowers looked vibrant, too, as if a transplant could wait for an eternity. Nothing appeared capable of stopping their flowering right where they were.
“In this perfect environment,” we silently reasoned within ourselves, the flowers would surely thrive well until Saturday.”
On Wednesday, however, they looked a little like a runner after a Marathon.
Drooping over, thirsty, and weakly looking, the flowers had lost their color. Some had lost their blooms. The soil around all of them looked hardened, like a noose tightening around the neck of a prisoner. While they looked strong and vibrant just a few days before, ready to multiply and grow in every direction, it was obvious now they were on life support. In some cases, death was near.
They had outgrown their birth world and needed more room and fast. To leave them in this cramped and narrow space would prove fatal and soon. Consequently, without saying a word to each other, Pam and I instinctively knew what had to be done.
What had to be done could not wait until the following Saturday.
We proceeded to transplant the flowers. As we did, I began seeing what you’re seeing, even as I write. The transplant parallels to your experience and mine are all too obvious.
But here are a few of them.
Right there, however, the parallels end.
What makes humans different from all other sentient beings is our capacity to think…to remember…to imagine…even to assume responsibility for ourselves. In other words, our survival, our growth is ultimately not dependent on anyone else but us.
The flowers would have died had Pam and I not acted quickly. This morning, they look like a group of prisoners who’ve just been granted parole. The blooms are all turned toward the sun, as if to say, “Good morning!”
Their transplant, and survival, was in our hands. Your transplant, however, as well as your survival, is in your own.
Some of you are reading this and you just stumbled upon this blog quite by accident. Is anything ever really random? You’ll have to decide that. What we both agree on, however, is that this is the very thing you needed to read today because you know, just as I know, you need a transplant or you will not survive.
No, I’m not talking about a heart transplant either. I’m talking about a transplant of your soul. The flowering of your life…the flourishing of your soul depends on it. You must set yourself free or you will not survive.
What God does is give us little reminders. This blog is that reminder. Call it a seed of God’s grace. What you must do is see and hear the reminders and take action.
A transplant is necessary and you are the transplanter. Remain where you are and you will be stifled and suffer continually.
The applications of this are varied and as limitless as are the colors in our newly planted flower boxes. And, the challenges you might be facing are very real no matter where you are.
Transplant yourself and be free of that enslaving habit. Transplant now and get out of that abusive relationship. Stop defending what you know is evil. Transplant yourself for your spiritual survival depends on it. You know what they are preaching and teaching isn’t so. You cannot bury your questions and doubts. There is no soil deep enough to snuff out the life in your soul’s questions. They will just keep spouting and appearing, dying and reappearing. It’s your nature to grow. That’s how God made you. She will continue trying to help you take responsibility. If it isn’t a blog you stumble upon, it’ll be something else. That’s how grace works.
Do not be afraid to leave the faith of your childhood…the beliefs that no longer work. It is in your nature to grow. You’ll never be happy just surviving. Transplant! Do so now.
“But I’m scared!” you say.
I know about scared. I was scared, too. And, it wasn’t easy. But, when I took the shovel in hand, and the first step toward freedom, the courage came. The faith to proceed flourished. And, the flowering of my soul began.
To transplant is to transform.
Think of it as your TRANSPLANT-FORMATION.
The God who caused this blog to appear like an unexpected flower on the porch of your consciousness, will go with you through the entire transplant itself. You will never be alone.
You’ll see. Happy Transplant-formation.
My name is Dr.Steve McSwain. I’m a speaker, author, spiritual teacher, and, while I am a Christian by choice, I’m also a avid activist for interfaith respect, dialogue, and cooperation. If you like the things you read, I hope you’ll stick around and even promote my website to your friends http://SteveMcSwain.com/ If you share my vision for the world, I hope you’ll read my books and wear the pendants I designed, all of which I hope will help to create a more conscious, compassionate, and charitable world.
