Photo and Commentary ©2024 by Shelley Schurch
Sunday, September 8, 2024
I keep on hand packs of 4”x4” Truth for Today Scripture Cards designed and printed by Emily Lex, a talented artist and author whose studio is in Gig Harbor, Washington. I like to tuck a card into a note I’m sending someone, hoping it will bring a bit of encouragement into their day.
Emily illustrates each Scripture with a small watercolor painting that is sometimes an obvious pairing with the Scripture, and sometimes not as closely connected to the verse.
There’s one card that makes me laugh out loud, although I don’t know if that’s the intention. The verse is:
This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. (Psalm 118:24 ESV)
How would you illustrate this verse? I’m thinking maybe a sunrise, or a big smile, or someone with hands waving in the air celebrating the gift of life . . . but here’s what Emily chose: a dandelion. A beautiful watercolor of a dandelion plant in three stages — a bud, a bloom, and a few remaining wisps of one that’s gone to seed.
A dandelion? What’s that got to do with the Lord making this day, and inviting us to rejoice in it?
I’m not sure what Emily was thinking as she chose her illustration – was she chuckling as she painted?
A dandelion is considered by most people to be a weed. Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary defines a weed as, “a plant that is not valued where it is growing and is usually of vigorous growth.”
When I started researching the difference between a weed and a wildflower I almost got lost in the fascinating foliage! Although some explanations were more technical than others, most seemed to agree that it all depends on your perspective. I can see how that would be, if we accept the dictionary definition of “a plant that is not valued where it is growing . . .” We do not all value alike.
So what does a dandelion have to do with my day? If I’m someone who does not value dandelions, but roots them out as unwanted weeds, then maybe a dandelion day is one that is not wanted, one that contains something obnoxious.
And then there’s that part of the definition that speaks of “vigorous growth.” We see one dandelion smiling at us from our front lawn, and we visualize the one becoming many, taking over what we planned as a serene green expanse.
So maybe a dandelion day is a day spinning out of our control, and we like being in control. We like life serenely unfolding just as we plan and prefer.
When I was a little girl, I remember how my friends and I looked for the first signs of spring and raced to be the first to pick and bestow them on our teacher. Our fists were usually clutching bunches of dandelions or buttercups. After a long snowy Alaskan winter, these looked beautiful to us, and we were sure our teacher would welcome them with delight.
All these years later, and having been a teacher myself, I’m sure our teacher valued our gifts because she valued us, the givers.
And so we can value even dandelion days, knowing that our Creator God is also our Emmanuel, God with us, always with us, no matter how obnoxious or out of control our day might seem.
As we step out into this brand-new week, we know not if its days will be filled with dandelions or daisies, but we do know that a loving, caring God keeps step with us, all the way Home.