God is always trying to give good things to us, but our hands are too full to receive them.
~St. Augustine
The foxgloves pictured above remind me of the unseen mystery woven into creation that we cannot see while we are holding fast to what we want and living on accelerate at high speed. We see only what appears to be.
And we often see what we want to see.
It takes time to see with the heart.
Known as the fairy bell flower, the tall spires of purple enticed me to plant a few until the heat and drought in our climate defeated my best plans for gardening this blossom. Nature's indigenous beauty surrounds us, yet I try to fit square pegs into round holes, as I did when trying to force recalcitrant foxgloves to make a home in the deep south. I didn't have the touch.
We grow and cut and gather something as simple as flowers in a yard, never realizing that in our arms lies a possibility for healing. I had young children at the time and was aware to be careful with this plant. The foxglove is said to be poisonous--poisonous yet miraculous in the same stem. Digitalis is a derivative of this plant and has been a staple in medicine. Yet, at a glance it is only a lovely bloom.
We cannot know what we hold in our hands because we only see from our limited perspective.
Life itself is a tremendous mystery.
Let us open our palms to receive it. There is always more than meets the eye.
Photo by Rob Kiser
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