“Consider the lilies of the field . . . “ Matthew 6:28
Today is my grandmother’s birthday. I find myself thinking of her as I water our small gardens alongside our house. I filled our gardens with purple bachelor buttons because that was a flower my grandmother always grew in hers. Bachelor buttons are a perennial that grows profusely without much work.
Most of grandmother’s gardens were a lot of work. She grew sweet corn, potatoes, peas, tomatoes, beans and so much more on her acre of deep dark earth. Her garden was part of their 160-acre farm in West Central Minnesota. My grandparents grew soybeans, wheat, and corn. They also raised angus beef cattle and three kids, one of whom was my mom.
I remember as a kid spending time on their farm in the late Summer. During the harvest my grandmother would get up early to get breakfast on the table before dawn. After those dishes were done, she would get started on dinner. Dinner was a huge meal served at noon for my grandfather and the extra men hired to help. Then late in the afternoon she and I would take the old pick-up and drive out to the fields. She would bring the men sandwiches wrapped in wax paper, slices of angel food cake and thermoses of coffee. Supper was served late, after it was too dark to combine any more.
In between the cooking and dishes, she would work in her garden. I loved helping her. We would dig up potatoes, husk the sweet corn and shell the sweet peas. It was a lot of work, but on the edges of her vegetable gardens she always had flowers. Even with all the effort there was still beauty growing in the fields of her everyday life.
Seeing the purple lupine now blooming along the roads and bachelor buttons growing in my gardens, I was also reminded of Alice Walker’s book, The Color Purple. There is a powerful conversation in the book between Celie and Shug. Shug helps Celie broaden her understandings of God. Shug says, “I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don’t notice it. People think pleasing God is all God cares about. But any fool living in the world can see it always trying to please us back.”
My grandmother and my mother planted so much into my soul – a strong work ethic, compassion, and a deep faith. I give thanks this day for my grandmother who taught me to consider the lilies. May we all take time to notice the purple swaying in the breezes of our everyday lives.
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