...about forgotten trees and neglected people and such....

 
 "Oh no, what have I done? Awww, I killed it! I just can't do ANYTHING right!"

My husband brought home a "Charlie Brown" plant this morning from work. Apparently, a teacher had left it behind, saying she had too many. I took it from him with a huge smile, as I love plants! One cannot have too many.

I call it a Charlie Brown plant because in the TV show, "A Charlie Brown Christmas," he picks out the smallest, scrawniest tree in an effort to make Christmas a happy one. He had good intentions, yet when he put a single ornament on it, it wilted! This plant also was somewhat wilted, with leaves that had brown tips. The soil was bone dry and this is a plant that normally loves to be watered and given a south facing view with a lot of sunshine.

No problem for me. I knew that given time and love, just like Charlie Brown's Christmas tree, it would turn into something of beauty.

Therein lies the magic potion: time and love. What else do we have in our lives that we come across that also need time and love? Is it a relationship that we may be too quick to write off, rather than deal with? Is it in dealing with an addiction, or a disorder? It seems to me that in this fast paced world, if we can't have perfection in 2.6 milliseconds, it isn't worth trying for. But wait! And I do mean WAIT! Time, love, attention...they all go together. Patience is a virtue. I know, maybe you are the spouse of an alcoholic and you want that person to quit RIGHT NOW! Or you have a body that has a bulge here or love handles there and you look for that magic pill that will make you perfect. You will spend hundreds of dollars to have the perfect house, the perfect car, the perfect "whatever." But...are you happy when you have attained that?

I look to Jesus. In many depictions of Him, what is He wearing? Certainly NOT designer clothes! It is the garments that everyone else had also. He didn't drive a chariot and wear a crown...unless you count the crown of thorns, which to me, humbled Him in a very real and sad way. He came to heal the rest of us from the wants, needs and immediate desires that seem to consume all of us. He told us about what happens when you have a barn, tear it down just to make a bigger barn to store more "stuff." He admonished us to love our neighbors, despite any apparent or perceived flaws they may have. I am sure that had I stood before Him and lowered my head in shame because I felt that I am ten pounds overweight with a belly that Buddha would have approved of, He wouldn't even have seen that "flaw." Rather, Jesus looks into our hearts. He loves all of us, even WITH our "Charlie Brown" features. These are the things that we should also love...not only about ourselves, but our neighbors as well. The homeless, the poor, the hungry, the ill, the imprisoned, those who have a mental issue, those with autism, with Down syndrome, the blind, the disabled--and hey! What about children who have been "left behind?" Maybe they have behavior issues, or a learning impairment....to the world, they may not be perfect...but to God...they--and we---are all His children!!....These are the Charlie Brown Christmas tree types that just need a little attention, a little more love, a little more care than the rest. Given all of that, they will bloom, they will grow, they will prosper!

"Maybe, Charlie Brown, all it needs is just a little more love..."