Thriving...in Spite of It

I have a number of flowering vines, deliberately planted, and innumerable wild ones populating the backyard and prayer trail beyond it. I am fascinated by their very determined twining and stretching, in spite of barriers, dry places, and competition for soil… But there are two such vines that struck me this morning because of the disparity in their growth.  One—a climbing hydrangea—has yet to live up to its name. It’s not the vine’s fault. I had just assumed it would climb up the wall, so I’ve given it nothing to cling to. One year later, it’s still more like a meager little bush, evidently stunted in its growth for lack of a trellis.  The other one, on the other hand—a Mandevilla—has twined itself tightly onto the trellis I gave it, intricately and inseparably weaving through its sturdy iron structure over and over, back and forth. If ever there was an image of a living thing clinging to something, this is it.  As we live and grow, we need something strong, steady, and ...

It’s funny that with all the testing we have in our lives, from SATs to MRIs, blood sugar and skills tests, COVID and drug tests, personality assessments, and pregnancy tests, we resist the idea that our faith will be tested, too.  We rely on both the necessity and the results of tests that tell us our water is safe to drink or our 16-year-olds are ready to drive, but we question — we are even horrified and offended, if we were completely honest — the fact that sometimes our faith must be tested, too.  So, what’s the purpose? As with any test, we could look to the old business axiom that tells us “whatever gets measured gets improved.” While the original source of this quote is disputed, the concept is applied universally, whether consciously or not. The point is, assessing things periodically is the key to improving them. We need to increase our faith, whatever amount we have, so we must not only recognize when it’s being tested but also honestly and humbly accept whatever t...