These were the last flowers of Lilies in our garden before the monsoon had set in late May, 2026. As I was collating all the photos of the last season of Lilies in the garden, one observation captured my attention. Although they look fragile, they withstand strong wind and rain. The photos above were after such an occasion !
I have been through a stormy experience during the week end. I felt shaken by some attitudes and behaviour from least expected sources. That memory was lingering on in my mind while revisiting the above photographs of Lilies, which looked brilliant and agile even after a storm. The strength to be so is in its stalk and roots.
How well am I rooted to stand !
I came across a Scripture passage from the book of Romans in the New Testament of the Bible, Romans 15:5-6 which had a message for me to discover the source of this resilience: "Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another...wherefore accept one another..."!
The rootedness to stand in stormy circumstances would come from this twofold view of life- God gives perseverance and encouragement and prepares us to accept each other.
The strain in relationships is one of the usual storms in one's life. When we experience the gift of perseverance and encouragement, it overflows to accept others as they are. The inner comfort and the supportive role of others around, create the resilience to endure the storms that one comes across.
What was inviting was the call to accept each other! What would it mean to be of the 'same mind with one another' to be able to accept one another?
The mind is the perceptual and processing of window through which we view each other. While looking at the flowers above, what captures one's attention is its colour, texture and elegance. That is the route to accept each other. To see in each other the abiding goodness even when it was not expressed well enough! To be able to see others beyond what they did or did not do through the optic of their hidden and potential goodness, is what enables us to accept each other! A person is deeper and soulful! That is the reason why acceptance of others becomes possible even when there are differences in opinion or perception.
So we have a collective strength from each other to endure and persevere.
It was spoken about the football team of Spain that 'they found strength in each other' to win the final in the recent football World Cup.
I felt revived from this reflection. We are enabled to endure because we are rooted and protected from around!
That is the hope an infant who is learning to walk has. When he or she falls while attempting to walk, the fall is into the receiving outstretched hands of the mother waiting vigilantly!
M.C.Mathew (text and photo)
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