To whoever may read this,

Have you ever given much thought about plants and how they grow? I have. When I was younger I would sit myself in front of our houseplants captivated by them, observing every minuscule change that had occurred since the last time I’d sat with them. Noticing a plant that looked sickly, dotted with many brown specks and withering away I called it to my grandma’s attention. “Breathe on it,” my grandma told me. “But why” I asked. It’s good for the plants, she responded. So I sat there breathing on that plant trying to revive it with the magic power of my warm breath. I didn’t know the science behind it at the time just naively believed my breath could heal this dying plant which had once provided a pop of color in our home and had created a sense of joy in my heart.

Another time I sat in front of a sickly plant and exclaimed “Mom this plant isn’t doing well.”

“Pick the brown dry pieces off,” my mom told me.

“What is that going to do mom,” I questioned.

My mom explained to me how when a plant is not doing well the strong, healthy plants concentrate the water towards the part of the plant that is not healthy to help restore it. I though that was so beautiful. Over the years I have thought about this intricacy of how plants are designed and I’ve thought deeply about our society. During the height of the pandemic I would think about how our society was responding to the collective trauma. Divisiveness ensued and different camps were formed. Meanwhile people were hurting and afraid. I think about how I write this in the month of May which is Mental Health Awareness month and also how I was diagnosed with depression and anxiety in that very month. There are a lot of hurting people out there and they need our help. See we may not be able to serve everyone. But we can each concentrate our efforts, our kindness, our love, and our prayers on those we encounter frequently. I believe that healed people can heal people. We must be like plants reaching out to hurting people and breathing life into them. In the Catholic Church there is a saint that said “Christ has no body now but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes with which He looks compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which He walks to do good. Yours are the hands through which He blesses all the world (St. Teresa of Availa).” We can all make a difference. And I think all of us making a difference where we have been planted, lending a helping hand to those we encounter everyday can create a chain reaction. And that chain reaction can change the world.

As my closing remarks I want to share an anecdote that has struck me many times. The author G.K. Chesterton once entered a writing contest which asked the participants to answer the question “what’s wrong with the world today?” G.K. Chesterton wrote “I am,” and sent it in. While there is some truth in that, I know that we also can be the change that we want to see. Each moment that we live is a grace—as it’s a moment where we can grow in kindness. Each person we meet has dignity, worth, value, and their own unique story—we can come to know them intimately. Each breath we breathe is a gift and we can use it to breathe life into others. Each word on our lips should seek to heal with compassion–because with our words we can reawaken someones weary soul.

We can learn something from the very design of plants. Through them we learn what is necessary to grow, and what is needed to heal.