Rod first shared this reflection with us at Creation, and it offered us some really good food for thought on flourishing in unlikely situations. I thought I'd share it with you...

'For centuries philosophers have attempted to determine what constitutes 'The Good Life'.  

Abram Maslow built his 'Hierarchy of Needs' with its foundation laid on the practical needs of food and shelter, and then moving on to the less physical needs, and even to what might be called spiritual needs.  Maslow's idea is that when all these components are in place, a person may be able to flourish in every part of their life. 

A horticulturalist might express something  similar, that a plant will grow well, and produce what is expected of it, whether fruit or flowers, when conditions are right. 

Autumn is now almost upon us and in my garden there is every sign that plants are shutting down in readiness for Winter.  Among these are one of my favourites, the 'Alpine Primrose'  [ Primula auricula], commonly known by flower gardeners as 'Auriculas' .  One plantsman describes these plants as having 'blooms of intensely rich colour, wonderful shading and delightful fragrance, 'produced from mid-March to April.'  However amongst my cluster of 'auriculas' is a single plant perfectly fitting that description, in full bloom, yet it insists on doing so now, today, in near Autumn! 

The biblical prophet Jeremiah likens a truly alive person to a tree,  a tree whose roots search deeply until they find water, so is able not just to stay alive, but to flourish, not just when conditions are right, but in  drought;  he says 'it not only has green leaves but never ceases to bear fruit'. [ Jeremiah 17: 7&8]

As blessed as we may be, living in this fallen world, the growing conditions, conditions for 'The Good Life', for us people, can never be ideal. Trial will come to us all, in one form or another. Yet if our soul, the centre of our being, is reaching down into that which nourishes, we can flourish, even in these tough times.  We can be what seems impossible to be.  It seems to be a choice.

Well-known figures come to mind who have been able to thrive in ways that really matter, in impossible situations.  Corrie ten Boom and her sister Betsy were  incarcerated in Ravensbruck concentration camp, during WW2, for hiding Jews in their home in the Netherlands, yet they were able to develop activities for the women in the camp that kept some alive and hopeful. Betsy died there.

But countless un-named others, in undramatic settings, have been able to defy difficult realities that surround them and through an act of will, choose to love, choose to give, and to heal what is broken.

So it is possible, for us lesser mortals, to live, to grow, and to flourish even when growing conditions are all wrong... when our roots go down deep into God.