RESILIENCE THE POWER TO BOUNCE BACK; IT NEEDS A WHOLE NEW MIND

RESILIENCE: IT NEEDS A WHOLE NEW MIND

I was walking the other day in my garden and was shocked by the havoc the frost caused. Throughout the year I make new plants and look very carefully after it - well, those new plants are tender and need extra care and attention. Now - early morning it is obvious that something big went wrong during the night. Frost! O my word! Utter disaster! So it seemed to me at first glance. But then I looked carefully and found not everything was lost.

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Not total disaster. There is life in the garden!

Now I had a look at my herbs. The marjoram and oregano were badly hit.You are right, I did not cover the plants before to protect it from frost. There were some strands that were still alive and I dug it up immediately to transferred it to my "maternity ward" - that is in common language my nursery in the front garden. These were transplanted in plastic pots and carefully covered with straw and now the waiting game started. Will it survive or won't it? 

New life: oregano busy sprouting new leaves!!!!

There you can see new life. I was successful. Is this what it means to be resilient? The Margaret Roberts Basil cuttings were also badly hit. And yet, it is recovering. 

Margaret Roberts Basil recovering from the frost

There you can see it: these plants are recovering.

I learnt a big lesson here in my garden. The powerful forces of nature are at work even in my garden. Be it the frost. Be it the regrowth. Have a look at the spekboom below - on the surface the plant was killed. But it stunned me when I discovered new growth at the bottom emerging from the soil. Deep down the plant was alive and well. 

Spekbook [portulacaria afra] on the rebound

A lesson about resilience. Covid-19 is like the black frost. What is our answer to this pandemic? Of course there are millions of words spoken and written about it and I don't pretend that my small contribution is the last word about it. It is a small contribution from my side. Resilience. 

You can write a thesis about this topic. But when the tire hits the road, that is a different story. Read all about it the Bible: Romans 12: 1 - 2 [click here to read it online] : 

A Living Sacrifice

12 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Ask God to transform yourself and your thinking by the renewing of you mind - that is what I do constantly because it is a ongoing work in my life.