Lessons from the Dandelion May 19, 2015

I read a devotion recently that talked about the good qualities of the dandelion.  I read it right around Mother’s Day and it talked about how many vases would be filled with bouquets of these gifts of yellow and green.  Young children, not as discriminate in regards to flowers, take handfuls and handfuls to their teachers and their moms.  The article went on to site a child asking her mom why their lawn did not have the pretty yellow flowers like the neighbour’s lawn. I can see that these are cute and important reasons to hold the dandelion in high esteem but there are other reasons to like the dandelion.  It is, apparently, very healthy for you when it is used properly with almost every part being beneficial for something (or so says the University of Maryland http://umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/herb/dandelion). Despite all of this positive press, I still do not find myself swooning over the dandelion.  That being said I am amazed by them and I think there is even a distinct lesson we can learn from this plant, or pesky weed as some call it.  Dandelions are examples for us in resilience.  If you spend a Saturday plucking these pesky plants from your lawn you can almost guarantee that some will pop up on Sunday.  Dandelions persevere.  Secondly, dandelions spread.  As followers of Christ, we can take their examples of sowing seeds near and far to transform the landscape.  We too are called in all that we do to spread the good news to transform the landscape of our world, of our communities and of our neighbourhoods.  May you persevere this week in sowing the seeds of the Kingdom!  ~ Mr. Bouwers