 Open to the Sun! (from http://tinyfarmblog.com/category/csa/ ) |
| April 27, 2012
Dear Family of Mary!
"Dear children! Also today I am calling you to prayer, and may your heart, little children, open towards God as a flower opens towards the warmth of the sun. I am with you and I intercede for all of you. Thank you for having responded to my call." (April 25, 2012)
Our Lady has very often compared our response to God to the response of a flower to the warmth of the sun. It is a lovely comparison. But this time I decided to do a "google" search in order to see if I could understand why a flower turns towards the warmth of the sun. Flowers don't really think, so the process has to come from the flower's chemistry and physics and cell design. Right? (Now you botanists out there, be patient with me because I am not a scientist! And if you can help with a better explanation, send it to me!)
Here is what I found on the web:
Heliotropism is the term used to describe the tracking of the sun by the flower buds of sunflowers. Other plants also have flowers and/or leaves that track the sun. First, let's discuss how the plants are able to track the sun. There is a collection of specialized cells at the base of the flower bud or leaf called a pulvinus that carry the "motor" cells that enable the plant leaf or flower to track the sun. These cells enlarge or shrink according the turgor pressure from the water inside them. In response to blue wavelength light, potassium ion concentration increases in the "motor" cells on the shadow side of the pulvinus. With the increase of potassium ions the osmotic potential in the cells becomes more negative and the cells absorb more water and elongate, turning the face of the flower to the sun....It is thought that one reason the buds of the sunflower (and other flowers) track the sun is that insects are attracted to the warmth from the sun and their presence is necessary for pollination to occur. (http://www.wildflower.org/expert/show.php?id=589)
OK! If I understand this, the flower is constructed so that when the blue wavelengths from the sun reach it, it creates an increase of potassium ions in the motor cells underneath the flower, and this increase changes the balance of water in the cells and so the cells take in more water, get bigger and cause the flower to tip towards the sun kind of like a little lever. Amazing! God created the flower that way. And it is for a reason.
The reason it looks like from this article is so that the flower can grow (photosynthesis) and also attract the bugs that come and germinate the flower so that seeds will develop. The bugs come because it is warm in the flower and without the bugs, no germination; and without germination, no seeds; and without seeds, no future plants. So, the whole purpose for the flower's movement towards the sun's rays is so that the flower will be fruitful!!!
I never thought of that. I always thought it was just a nice image for wanting to feel warm. But no, it is actually a very important process in God's plan for the flower. The flower needs to be fruitful. God said, "Let the earth put forth vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, upon the earth." (Gen. 1:11) God wants the plants to multiply and grow and bear fruit. So this turning towards the sun is part of His plan to make the plant fruitful!
Now, let's apply this image to Our Lady's call to us. She said, "May your heart, little children, open towards God as a flower opens towards the warmth of the sun." Our Lady wants our hearts to respond to God, like the flower responds to the sun's rays. Why, because if we open our hearts and direct them to the healing rays of God's love, we will become fruitful! We will bring forth the fruit of righteousness. As Saint Paul prayed, "And so, from the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, to lead a life worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God." (Col 1:9-10)
Our Lady wants us to bear good fruit, lots of it!! And she knows that we need to open our hearts to the incredible, life-giving light of God's presence so that we can become fruitful, like the flower. This is not just so we will "feel" God's warmth, although that is very important for us, it is actually so we will receive His grace in all the ways we need so that we can be fruitful plants in His vineyard.
Of course, the turning we must do is prayer (We might call it Theotropism- turning towards God!). When we pray, we turn our heart to God, and open it to Him so that He can shine upon it, warm it, heal it, feed it, and germinate it with His powerfully fruitful love. He will come to our hearts and insert His life, which will grow into righteousness and good works. He will germinate us! We will then be full of life, full of grace, in a similar way to Our Lady! We will be filled with life!
So, this nice little image is far more powerful than we may have imagined. It is packed with power. You might even say that it is dangerous! We could become pregnant with life if we do as she asks! We could become carriers of God's life, His fecundity, His multiplying joy! Are we brave enough to turn to the Sun?
Yes!! Indeed!
In Jesus, Mary and Joseph! Cathy Nolan ©Mary TV 2012 |
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