A lily fully opened sits and is itself.
When the rain comes-it endures-then drinks from the gift of water the rain brings. The lily needs the rain to live. The heat from the sun shines and the lily enjoys the warmth and the rays.
The lily takes in whatever comes and is. It burst forth one day from a seed and now fully grown it learns how to navigate the variety of weather that comes and goes.
It doesn't build a shelter to hide from the storms. It doesn't imagine it to be something other than it is, nor does it believe it is something else because a few people don't care about flowers and can't recognize what it is, or maybe it makes some people sick from allergies.
No, the lily sits and is the lily that it is. Most people love flowers because of their beauty.
Put a bunch of different flowers in a vase or garden and the uniqueness of each one stands out even more.
Pressures to conform, think the same, and suppress the essence of our being happen in every system. People are generally fearful of the unknown or unfamiliar-especially if they can't control you.
So when love shows up freely given with no strings attached, it is so refreshing. It gives permission for us to be. It is a rare individual that is able to be their authentic self without conforming and face rejection and hostility.
I have yet to see this played out with any "systems', "groups", or "cultures". Even in families, the children need to conform to the parents standards or else love is often withheld.
Jesus lived outside the systems and it infuriated people. He only did and said whatever he heard the father do and say. Nobody was able to control him. Kingdom living of love and freedom. Where grace, kindness, and unconditional love exists. Kingdom living requires humility, vulnerability, and childlike trust.
God loves lilies. He says we are like them. Luke 12:27
Be a lily. Be who God made you to be.
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