Every branch that bears fruit, I will prune back...
The Gospel of John
This past Saturday, the clouds parted for a few hours and I began to plant some flowers. I have this tiny garden in our front lawn, under the shade of a tree. There is a statue of St. Francis and I like to surround him with flowers each spring. A friend of our, Felix, who is 8, helped me plant.
Unfortunately, the flat of flowers sat there for one week before I had the time to plant them. The flowers had grown tall and spindly. In order to keep them healthy, I had to prune them, cutting off the flowers and planting the green stems. Felix was perplexed.
"Luke's mom," he said. "Why are you cutting off all the pretty stuff?"
I had to explain to Felix about the pruning process. "I have to cut these flowers off so that the plants will be healthy and eventually make more flowers," I said.
That's what Jesus does sometimes. He prunes us. He prunes back those branches that bear fruit. His followers who love him and who are genuinely are trying to follow him--he prunes us back. And we never really understand why.
A lady in our parish had to move into assisted living this week. The process nearly did her in. She refused to leave, went on a hunger strike, beggged and cried. But our deacon finally convinced her. It was time for her to be pruned back. She had to get rid of many of her belongings in order to prepare her soul for God. It was so hard for her to say goodbye to so many keepsakes and memories, but she did it in the end. And now she is enjoying herself in her new space.
Consider that some of the hardship you endure is really a pruning back. Suffering is not the enemy. Often, it makes us grow. We may never fully understand what God is trying to do with us, not in this life, but we can use our suffering as a way of learning and become stronger.
My flowers are doing well. Some new buds have come out, tiny ones that will take awhile to bloom. They are coming.
