Light, Darkness, and House Plants

I have never had a house plant before. I know, I know, it sounds crazy and silly. I've lived on my own since I was 19 (well, minus the couple of times I moved back in with my Mom, but those are stories for another day.) I have always assumed I would be no good at keeping them alive, and so when people asked why I had no plants I would just fib and say that I kill them all, and there's no point. This is all a precursor to explain my naivety when it comes to plants, which is probably why this is a brand new concept to me...

A few weeks ago I brought home my very first house plant. I planted it myself in a pot that I painted myself (well, partially. I mean, I totally helped paint it) The first few days I was diligent in watering it. It had a few tiny flowers on it when I first brought it home, and I was excited when a few more popped up. I was rocking at this plant thing! Until... I forgot about it. I don't know what happened, but I'm pretty sure I should have watered it more.

Anyways, yesterday I found it in a sad sad state. All the leaves were laying flat on top of the dirt, and it was looking quite... wilty. I gave it some water and then moved it to direct sunlight. Within two hours it completely came back to life!! The leaves got their spring back and suddenly were outstretched 3-4 inches in the air again!! It completely blew me away.

It made me think a little about what it means to live in the light. Before I moved it to the window it was sitting on my dining room table. With the curtains all open our living room and dining room are quite bright- the sun pours in all day, especially in the afternoon. However, the sun does not directly hit the dining room table. So in theory, you can be in a well lit room without being in the light.

Now, before I go much further with this analogy, I want to explain what I mean to be "in the light" because there is a lot of new age chatter about "sending light and love" to people and all that other mumbo jumbo. I'm not really sure what this elusive light that they are sending is all about. Perhaps something about an ambiguous higher power. Not my jam to not give credit where credit is due, so I just want to be clear that I am talking about the light that is spoken about in the Bible.

John 14:26 says that Jesus came into the world as a light, and that no one who believes in him should stay in darkness. Then Jesus later tells us in Matthew 5 that we are the light of the world. Light is referred to over and over in scriptures as living righteously - following God. Darkness would be the opposite; living a life far from God.

It seems pretty black and white. Light is good. Darkness is bad. But what about being in a well lit room, but just out of reach of direct light?

Well friends, I think my plant spoke volumes yesterday. Wilty. Sad looking. Not thriving, but instead moving closer and closer to death. And today, after only a couple hours of direct sunlight yesterday, it's still looking so alive.

I'll leave you with one of my favourite songs. It also happened to be the first song on my labour playlist, which was repeated over and over especially in the early hours (so naturally it makes me cry when I hear it now) Click here to give it a listen



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Thanks for stopping by :)

~M