Listen!

I had a spectacular gardening fail this winter. I bought a rose from a supermarket in the winter and when I opened up, it was covered with green wax. I carefully planted it in some compost and awaited the first green shoots. They never came because it turned out that I had planted it upside-down.

It is particularly embarrassing as core to Gift of Blessing Trust is a vision of lives that are deeply rooted in the love of God, so that they flourish, even in the storms. My poor rose was never going to flourish with its roots disconnected from all the goodness in the soil.

So how do we root our lives in God? There are many good answers but these words in Mark’s Gospel leapt out for me last week, “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!”

When God speaks audibly from heaven, it’s worth paying attention,

“This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!”

As many of you know, it has been a stretching few months for me. I never expected to get a cancer diagnosis and now know something of the rollercoaster of waiting for results. To my relief, the cancer hasn’t spread and my next step is an appointment to decide about radiotherapy.

It was while I was waiting for results that I asked the Lord to speak to me about it all, “What do you want to say to me about all this, Father?” The reply I heard was simple, “My word to you is Jesus”.

I found it deeply comforting that when we are distressed and stressed, even when suffering is acute – God’s word to us is Jesus- the Word, made flesh.

God says, “Listen to him!”

I am woefully easily distracted and part of a culture that is primed for distraction, so this is a challenge for me. But I know that intentionally listening to Jesus, drenching our lives in the Gospels and turning our attention to prayer - that is how we root our lives in God.  

I thought I’d killed the rose but I dusted and washed it and replanted it the right way up. If you look closely, even after being upside-down for 2 months, it is astonishingly coming to life.