One day, my mother and I were working together in the garden where we were transplanting plants for the third time.
Grown
from seed in a small container, the plants had been transferred to a
larger container; then transplanted into the garden. Now, because I was
moving, we were transplanting them once again.
Inexperienced as a
gardener, I turned to my green-thumbed mother. “Isn’t this bad for
them?” I asked, as we dug them up and shook the dirt from the roots.
“Won’t it hurt these plants, being uprooted and transplanted so many
times?”
“Oh” my mother replied. “Transplanting doesn’t hurt them.
In fact, it’s good for the ones that survive. That’s how their roots
grow strong. Their roots will grow deep, and they will make strong
plants”.
Often, I’ve felt like those small plants – uprooted and
turned upside. Sometimes I’ve endured the change willingly, sometimes
reluctantly, but usually my reaction has been a combination. Won’t this
be hard on me? I ask. Wouldn’t things be better if things remained the
same? That’s when I remember my mother’s words: That’s how the roots
grow deep and strong.
~ Chaplain Lisa Bohannon ~
