The Micky mouse plant is now the attraction for birds in our garden as the berries are ripening. Some birds are fond of this berry.
With new shoots, flowers and berries, the plant would be frequently visited by these birds in the coming days.
This season of flowering and fruit bearing happens all through the year. The monsoon rains have made the plant vigorous in its growth.
The plant receives and gives.
The plant receives in order to give!
I have struggled with this thought.
Is my giving proportionate to what I receive!
Often the giving is inhibited by the fear of loosing!
Do I loose anything by giving!
This plant in telling its story answers this dilemma. It is pruned twice a year and what follows is a renewed growth. The pruning looses branches and foliage, but the life within the plant grows again to give more.
In the Ericsson's proposal of psycho-social behaviour an adult becomes an elder in his or her seventies. An elder is a giving person, living open for others to draw from the elder what he or she is searching for!
Am I only a senior citizen or becoming an elder in this giving orientation!
Giving is becoming what the other person needs to offer encouragement and support !
I ponder on this because living is fully human only when life is lived giving, because we received freely and are called to give freely, in the words of Jesus of Nazareth.
The Mick Mouse plant flourishes even more while living freely!
The birds are nourished by the tree!
The tree announces its call to live by giving!
M.C.Mathew ( text and photo)
