Lily Pads

There is an Abbey I like to visit and there are a few trails off the grounds I like to walk.  One trail will take you to a high rock, and you are able to look down upon a natural pond.  One summer, I walked there with my sister.  I was compelled to go down lower to pond level and look more closely at the lily pads that appeared that summer.  I touched one, and as I tried to pick it up, I realized it was connected by stem and root to hundreds of other lily pads.  I was amazed.

On the surface, each lily pad seemed independent, solo, floating on their own, subsisting beside other lily pads, but if you dug a little deeper you could see how interconnected each lily pad was to the other by stem and root.

This got me thinking about how we live our lives.

As Americans, we value independence; we can’t wait to grow up and go, and live out on our own-away from our parents, and enjoy the freedom, and independence that adult life brings.  We go out and rent apartments, buy homes, work jobs, volunteer at local churches or other grass-root organizations of our choosing.  We may stay a short or a long-time and then leave to go somewhere else and build new relationships.

But what impresses me is that no matter where we go geographically we are spiritually like lily pads.  We grow stems and roots; we connect not to other lily pads, but to actual people and places.  We have a spiritual interdependence to the towns and people in which we live, work, and volunteer. And when we leave, no matter how short or long our time is, we may feel an uprooting.

This helps me see past my likes and dislikes, and makes me more grateful for my experiences.

This also stirs me to take more seriously and prayerfully the decisions I make regarding where I live, where I work, and where I worship, because no matter what we may think-we are not flying solo out here.  We are not just subsisting beside other people.  We are divinely and spiritually connected in ways beyond our control, and yet we make choices everyday to where we go and who we talk to. 

Lily pads are amazing. They create shade and protection for fish in ponds, and they provide a gentle resting spot for frogs and dragonflies. (Facts on Water Lilies-Home Guides)

Lily pads are sublimely connected to their environment and So are we!