Flowers in a Plant!

The flowers are only short periods in a plant. Plants often receive  more attention and visits when they are flowering or carrying fruits. Otherwise plants just exist in a garden, silently giving away oxygen to the air! The green cover the plants provide to the environment, enriching and softening the soil by their root systems and nourishing the ground with the falling  leaves are often not noticed or attributed to the plant.

This plant was battered by wind and rain three times during the last three months. And yet it is now blossoming announcing the autumn season. 

As I kept looking at the blossoms, it seemed to be a blend of ageing flowers and new flowers.The marks of ageing was evident with change in the colour and appearance of soem flowers. 

This was upon my mind as I set out to go to the hospital that morning. 

Along the way, I noticed this senior citizen walking effortfully and pausing in between on the side of a main road. 

I stopped till he crossed the curve only to realise that his walking threshold was about fifteen steps. I saw him stopping four times in that short distance.  

I felt moved and disturbed. I too would have a similar phase in my life in the near future! I felt amazed by the will to move on inspite of breathlessness or joint pain or back ache he might be suffering from while walking !

I felt spoken to about the journey itself! I remember what the desert Fathers often spoke about: the journey is both an experience and a destination! Being able to live and that too with a consciousness of the enabling we receive to cross the hurdles in life is in itself an experience of embracing the fullness of life. In the end, life would be remembered how we shared our lives for the wellness of others. 

Just at the corner of the road, a scooterist stopped to ask the senior citizen something. I saw him responding by waving his hands at the scooterist. I presume that the senior citizen was refusing a ride the scooterist offered! I was further moved and had to recompose myself to feel grateful for such a sight on my way to the hospital. 

The plant and ageing flowers and an ageing senior citizen!

The plant gives life and bears flowers; the senior citizen overcomes his limitations to stay agile!

I arrived in the hospital in a celebrant mood and with a grateful heart for the insights of the morning!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)