Today is a two post special!!
Saturday I walked out behind the church to check on the lantana I had planted by the arbor. When I had planted the lantana a few weeks ago, I had warned Pastor Debbie that it would probably die and sure enough, within hours, the lantana had shed every last little flower petal.
But I had been told that as long as the plant still had its leaves, it would come back stronger than ever.
After seeing the lantana this past Saturday, I don’t think it’s coming back. Without its flowers, it was apparently mistaken for any old weed and the lawnmower man cut it down to the nub.
So, here I am standing over this … nothing … that was once a flowering plant and what do I do?
I laugh, because, honestly, what else is there to do sometimes? Sometimes life is totally and completely beyond our control. Sometimes flowers are mistaken for weeds. And if we don’t laugh at those times, then we all are just emotional hoarders, holding tight to every little trouble that comes our way.
Anne Lamott writes in Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith that “one secret to life … is [knowing] that laughter is carbonated holiness.”
Laughter is one of those things in life that helps us keep perspective. Every time I laugh, I am aware of God’s presence, because I know He is laughing with me.
Even so … that poor lantana …
