Reach Up

 

I could not begin to tell you how many times I have passed this interesting plant as I wander through my neighborhood. Over the years it has grown and grown. What was once a small plant nestled in the corner between the sidewalk and the driveway can now be seen from far down the block. It seems to have grown faster over the past year or so. Now it makes me smile and think of “Little Shop of Horrors”. I now refer to this plant as Audrey.

The shape of the plant brings to mind the image of arms reaching upward. Sometimes I picture a crowd of people, caught up in excitement and joy, celebrating life. At other times, I imagine a tangled mass of people desperately struggling to rise above the oppression and violence that has overtaken their world.

In both of these images, the arms reach out for a connection beyond themselves. In both these images

the hands reach upward, seeking something more. And in my imagination, whether they know it or not, both groups are reaching out for God.

The Psalmist writes, “Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually!” I fear that many of us tend to think that we can seek God only in a place of worship at a designated time in designated ways. For the Psalmist to write these words presumes that God is continually present wherever we are. God is present in both the days of celebration and in the days of desperation. In both we can reach up to the God that is already there. In both, whether we sense it or not, we are not alone. Others are reaching up as well. We need community so that we can reach up together in all kinds of times.

Peace.