The day is so pretty, cool, windy and blue, cloudless. The birds are everywhere in the yard, singing and eating. Kat and Penelope sat in the sun enjoying the sun’s warmth while I filled up the bird feeders. Hung up a finch sock full of thistle seeds, hoping the goldfinches will flock to it.

I found a seed catalog in the mail today. Seed catalogs always thrilled Chief. I have many happy memories sitting with him in front of the fireplace as he made his seed orders on notebook paper. I’d have to get him a money order. I always offered to place the order on line but he’d always say no. He’d mail his orders off and go the mailbox every day waiting for the seeds to arrive. When the seeds arrived he excitedly showed me all the little packages and always ordered a few packs of flower seeds as a surprise for me. I miss him, his happy excitement each year as spring came alive. I know he’s gardening in heaven with his pal Thomas Jefferson.

The sun’s golden rays are filtering prettily down through the bamboo forest, highlighting and shadowing the long leaves and slender trunks. I was reading about bamboo this afternoon and read that September 18 is World Bamboo Day. My daddy’s family had a hardware store and my granddaddy McMurray raised the bamboo to sell as cane fishing poles. Bamboo is hard to control and those canes took over the backyards of the houses on our street. It could be a model for perseverance.

I’ve been watching the bamboo bend in the winds and storms these past few days and thinking the bamboo can be a metaphor for our Christian faith. Bamboo are strong and resilient, able to bend without breaking, a symbol of strength, flexibility, and resilience. As Christians our faith helps up weather life’s winds, giving us the strength to be flexible enough to ride out the trials and challenges we face. Our prayers teach us to persevere in the face of adversity, finding our strength through God’s grace.

As Christians we have to be adaptable as we grow spiritually, flexible enough to embrace the changes that follows us through life. We need patience and perseverance as we mature in our faith. God has his hands ready to straighten us up if life weathers us down. The bamboo grow strong and quickly on their deep foundation of roots. We are encouraged as Christians to build our lives on a strong foundation of trust in God, our faith laying down deep roots.

We can cut the bamboo down, break off the new shoots in the spring, but the bamboo always grows back. I see the bamboo as a symbol of hope and renewal. We have times in our lives that our faith is tested. In these trying times our faith, rooted deeply in God’s love, will sprout again and mature as we walk back into the light of the Holy Spirit. A Japanese proverb reads, “The bamboo that bends with the wind is stronger and more resilient than the oak tree that resists.”

God helps us bend when adversity comes. Yielding to God gives us the strength to be resilient.

“Notice that the stiffest tree is most easily cracked, while the bamboo or willow survives by bending with the wind.” — Bruce Lee