What would my world be without hollyhocks? If you were to come to my home for a visit, you’d see them from my front porch. As summer wanes, slowly giving way to the cooler days of fall, some who visit might see that my hollyhocks are drooping. And to that I say to myself “Yes, but so am I (figuratively).” And others who visit might say my hollyhocks are looking rather scraggly. And to that, I glance down and say to myself smiling “Ummm, well yes, but then so am I (not so figuratively).” Still others who visit might see and announce that my hollyhocks are coming to the end of their season. And keeping this thought buried deep in my heart I admit to myself “You’re right, and who knows, quite possibly so am I.” Still some who visit will quickly notice they have a disease attacking their leaves that takes away a lot of their garden appeal. And…
Yet those who know me know my heart and my thoughts for old hollyhocks and broken creatures and all the people like them. In living, God has given me His eyes to see “appeal” or better yet “beauty” in the weary, in the flaws, in the old and worn out, in the imperfect - in the scars they bear.
And in seeing through His eyes I am reminded that this hollyhock pokes it’s head from the soil, year after year, by the grace of God and no help from me except a daily watering during the hot dry spells. This hollyhock buds by the grace of God, in spite of me and my lack of knowledge to feed it and help it grow with tinctures and nutrients I failed to buy at the garden store. This hollyhock blooms by the grace of God as if to say “I was born to make the garden beautiful!” And no lack of care, no amount of time and no matter what life zapping disease tries to thwart it’s purpose, nothing can stop it from doing what the grace of God has set in motion.
That’s why I see beauty in the weary, the flaws, the aged and imperfect. They bear the scars of challenge, of neglect, of pain and suffering - they bear the scars of LIFE yet they keep on living, by the grace of God.
So what would my world be without hollyhocks? These hollyhocks are you and me. They are my reminder His grace is upon us all…