“Deep in Their Roots, All Flowers Keep the Light”

Dear Reader:

As I walked through my garden after the luscious rains had departed late Tuesday afternoon there was my little hydrangea that has hung in there for about three seasons now…not doing much…but here it was with beautiful green leaves, its thirst quenched by the recent rain… looking spectacular.

All I could think of was the line in today’s blog post title…”Deep in their roots, all flowers keep the light.” (Theodore Roethke)  I do believe this hydrangea withdrew back into the darkness of winter and metaphorically lit a little candle to remember the light, above the ground , and with faith and trust  is now emerging through the ground once again, climbing the stems… back into the light.

Aren’t we like this little hydrangea? We are born with this beautiful light glowing within us…we simply are and we accept life as small children with the confidence that we are the light and that is enough. Like the flowers our roots hold the light. We can still find them if we look. The light is the life force that makes us grow.

Sadly, however, as we grow older we start complicating things by comparing ourselves to others instead of realizing “We Already Are.

You Already Are: Further Than You Realize, Stronger Than You Believe, and More Incredible Than You Know

 

 

What we are truly looking for is the place…the original light where we all began. We need to take time to shed all the unnecessary layers that surround us in our daily lives and return to seed where life exists and our roots still hold the light and memory between the other world we left to live on earth and where we will one day return.

We need to let the light along our path simply take us back to whom we were…when everything was fresh, when the world was for exploring and we didn’t know anything besides an open heart.

And that is the beauty of surrounding yourself with small children who haven’t lost their innocence and inner light to comparisons. I do believe that is why Jesus said, ““Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”  They still feel the light.

The old Protestant church paintings of Jesus surrounded by children (with one child on his lap) could be found in every Sunday School class I attended as a small child. There was always something so comforting about that picture.

This was the “man”  I came to love…as I sang “Jesus Loves Me” as loudly, joyfully, and off-key as I could each Sunday in Sunday School. *Secretly I longed to be the chosen child…the one who got to sit on His lap…I still do. 🙂

So until tomorrow…When we realize we are enough just the way we are…then we should spread this good news to others because we all are loved as God’s children unconditionally.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Tuesday evening…April 2 with temps in the forties…I have a fire…very unusual for April in the lowcountry.

*And speaking of keeping an “open heart” in KindSpring, random acts of kindness, a beautiful story (Heart Pillows for Open Heart Patients) was told earlier this week about an open heart patient who discovered something that he could give back to the thousands of heart patients who followed him.

Before surgery one patient was told to watch some hospital videos on the procedure he was about to undergo. In one video he saw some heart pillows being given out and was excited about getting his…until he didn’t. When he asked about the reason why, it had been cut from the hospital budget but one could be purchased in the gift shop….which his daughter did and he loved it…more for the security and comfort it brought than anything else.

He even bought two more for fellow patients in his ward undergoing surgery around the same time as himself.

He decided to try to find out where the pillows were made so he could purchase some more for future patients. He ran into all kinds of stumbling blocks…hospital authorities told him that they could no longer have cloth on them because they could cause infection if they fell off the bed onto the floor, etc.

Finally he tried one last medical supply company and they had come up with vinyl pillows…Bingo…hope at last. In the meantime he had started volunteering at the hospital in the open heart surgical wing and become a well-known face there.

He finally got granted a meeting to present his findings to the hospital authorities, to tell his story, and then let them know what it would take to give each patient one of these heart pillows for more physical and emotional comfort. The committee agreed to the presentation and today these pillows are given out to all open heart patients. It just took a little perseverance and well…heart!

Source: grammie9909 (KindSpring)

 

 

 

About Becky Dingle

I was born a Tarheel but ended up a Sandlapper. My grandparents were cotton farmers in Laurens, South Carolina and it was in my grandmother’s house that my love of storytelling began beside an old Franklin stove. When I graduated from Laurens High School, I attended Erskine College (Due West of what?) and would later get my Masters Degree in Education/Social Studies from Charleston Southern. I am presently an adjunct professor/clinical supervisor at CSU and have also taught at the College of Charleston. For 28 years I taught Social Studies through storytelling. My philosophy matched Rudyard Kipling’s quote: “If history were taught in the form of stories, it would never be forgotten.” Today I still spread this message through workshops and presentations throughout the state. The secret of success in teaching social studies is always in the story. I want to keep learning and being surprised by life…it is the greatest teacher. Like Kermit said, “When you’re green you grow, when you’re ripe you rot.”
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4 Responses to “Deep in Their Roots, All Flowers Keep the Light”

  1. What a lovely post. The heart pillows and remaining connected to the Light of the world, being light-filled for others. A great reminder. Congratulations on “graduating from the wound center. To God be the glory.

    • Becky Dingle says:

      …and the Praise!” It has been a long time coming but not in His eyes…just a blink and that challenge is now behind me. Let the light shine on…one step at a time. Thank you, if I forget now and then, to thank you for your continued support…it is so special to me. Have a beautiful day! We sure have one here today!

  2. bcparkison says:

    Ughh….Someone ‘up the ladder’ is always trying to squash things. I am so glad he didn’t give up and was successful with the heart pillows. Comfort comes from a lot of places and this little bit can make a lot of difference.
    Have you ever read Balcony People by Joyce Landorf ?It may not even be in print but you would love it. You are a Balcony person and you have a lot of them in your life. We should all strive to be shouting more from the balcony of everones life.

  3. Becky Dingle says:

    Wow…I love that metaphor…”Balcony People” …people who react when they see injustice and greed taking over to maintain a status quo of pure selfishness instead of helping those less fortunate and those who could sure use some comfort from the “heart” by another human being.. America needs a lot more “balcony people” to right the daily wrongdoings we see all around us…. thank you Beverly for sharing that phrase…perfect…one I will remember always.

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