Advent Day 21: December 22nd
A Divine Force That Finds A Way

I went into a garden shop one summer and purchased a large stone that had been hollowed out and filled with soil. I liked its grey, rough surface and the weight of it in my hands. In its hollow was an extraordinary flowering plant. But I left it out too late in the fall and it was exposed to lowering temperatures. The plant was delicate, and its stems and fragrant petals buckled under the onslaught of the approaching winter.

I returned to the garden shop the next spring intending to buy another flower, or perhaps a beautiful vine, to plant inside the stone, but I never did. Instead, I bought a hanging pot in full bloom and placed the stone on the ground underneath as a decorative piece. One night, later in the summer, I noticed that a green weed had sprouted in the stone's hollow. The weed's unexpected presence affected me in a way I couldn't explain. I begain to water the soil in the stone whenever I watered the beautiful hanging pot. One evening I noticed the "weed" bore an exquisite red flower, just like the ones in the basket hanging above. I looked from the pot to the stone and laughed.

A seed that's ready will find its way. That single flower became my symbol of a divine force that finds a way even when none is visible.


by Paula D'Arcy, Redbird Foundation
from the book: Daybreaks