But there was a bright spot, the water lilies. There were thousands of them growing in big clusters. Some were bright pink, and some were white. Birds and fish and pond creepy crawlies were all living under the shade of the pads. I snapped some pictures, and my kids reached as far as they could over the stinky water to try to pluck one of them.
Those things do not come out easily! They have very long stems that must root all the way into the bottom of the pond. We finally sawed a couple off. They were beautiful, and delicate, and they smelled amazing, like shampoo or lotion!
I marveled at how something so fragrant and strong and beautiful could emerge out of something so putrid looking! I was reminded of the verse that says "Thanks be to God who leads us, wherever we are, on his own triumphant way and makes our knowledge of him spread throughout the world like a lovely perfume! We Christians have the unmistakable “scent” of Christ, discernible alike to those who are being saved and to those who are heading for death. To the latter it seems like the very smell of doom, to the former it has the fresh fragrance of life itself." 2 Cor 2:15 (Phillips version)
As I painted this I thought about how I feel surrounded by negativity and hopelessness. People who are full of hate for others who disagree with them. I want to be a bright spot in a clouded smelly world. I want to root down deep into God's love and stretch my neck out above the pond and bloom. I want to give a little beauty and hope, the aroma of grace to those around me in this confusing time.
I think I will make a series of out this, it was therapeutic to paint the mess, and then slowly paint the petals, imagining their scent. I tried to find more images of water lilies, but you know what?, every photo I found had the ugly cropped out of it. It was growing in someone's black tarped backyard filtered pond, not in real life mess. So my series is going to have the beauty in the midst of the mess!
How can you be a bright spot in someone else's mess today?
Let me know if you have any ideas in the comments below!
-Deborah King