There area lot of daisies that will never grow if we do not plant them when we can. And sometimes the Great Planter has entrusted the seeds to us by planting, first, in us. So we will bear seed to scatter. As much as I can, I live now in a frame of mind that stays poised between thanks to that Provider and accepting personal responsibility as well for what I may plant. It took me a long time to settle for myself that question, who has the power, us or some Big SkyDude. (Duh!! If you live in relationship with the Dude, you see the answer is, BOTH!)

So back to daisies. I like picking them, and have gotten pretty good at picking them on the fly, sometimes all day long. But I find, at this time in my life, that there is even more satisfaction in planting the daisies. (And at pointing out the ones people have growing out of their ears that they may not see.) Not the real ones. I do not garden. But I do plant a lot of seeds.

I used to focus on MAKING THOSE FLOWERS GROW. Now I just scatter seed wherever I go, and trust dirt to receive it along with the eventual spring rain to make them sprout... and you know, the sun seems to come up pretty reliably without my forcing it to. You can really wear yourself out there!

Joerg, these are all metaphors, and I am glad you sent me your e-mail address awhile back. I owe you a reply. I have been having to limit my daisy time these past few weeks, seeing them but not having time to stop and describe them. But I will write you. This thread has helped me know you better, too. I look forward to corresponding with you.

There is a Biblical parable about sowing seeds, and it does not have to be read only as planting seeds of The Gospel. I recommend looking at it to see some ancient wisdom about daisies. There are SO MANY good-news items to share with people, so many opportunities to impart a word of positivity and hope when you see folks wandering around seeing only bleakness in the manhole covers.

So I see it like this-- that what a lot of you have been doing in this thread is PLANTING DAISIES that will bloom quite unexpectedly in the years to come, in the hearts of people reading and thinking about this thread, and the lives they touch...

Aren't you blooming, where YOU were planted? Isn't your life the bouquet of those seeds you have tended, that were sown along the path of your life? Aren't we all doing that throughout our lives, intentionally or not?

This has become a nicely long thread. Perhaps if there is merit in continuing discussion along those lines, it's time to think about Part Two. I'm saving this thread. It's the start, I just realized, of an article I have wanting to write, about the difference between evangelizing and proselytizing. And I found it in the Mudcat Garden.

There's a metaphor for you, creative geniuses. Do we have a garden yet? Songs, traditions, jokes about the Mudcat garden, anyone?

~Susan