Strength and Peace

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Once again I find it difficult to post about pretty flowers in my garden when hatred and instability, coupled with easy access to guns, wrecks havoc on innocent human beings.  I suppose there has always been tension between the ugly and the beautiful in this world, but it feels like the ugly is more prevalent and increasingly malevolent at this moment in time.

I know that’s not really true.  I know that people have great capacity for kindness and compassion.  I know that the open-minded and open-hearted are those who champion and advance the human condition.

I also know that the natural world is a balm for anger and discordance, if it’s experienced, appreciated, and protected.

 

For innocent and displaced Syrians:

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Purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) with attending Leafcutter bee (Megachile)

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For the unwary–gunned down in schools, nightclubs, cafes, and places of worship:

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Common yarrow (Achillea millefolium) with attending fly

 

For innocent and kidnapped Yazidis:

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Big red sage (Salvia penstemonoides) and Clasping coneflower (Dracopis amplexicaulis)

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Common daylily

 

For the guiltless citizens of many African nations, caught between factions; forgotten:

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Firebush (Hamelia patens)

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Clasping coneflower with attending Sweat bee (Lasioglossum spp.)

 

For the innocent in Turkey, Afghanistan, Lebanon–and all other troubled parts of the Middle East:

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Sky flower (Duranta erecta)

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Purple coneflower

 

For unguarded Europeans and Americans, also unsure of their future:

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Rock penstemon (Penstemon baccharifolius)

This CNN link profiles attacks that have rocked many communities. Sadly, there have been further assaults perpetrated by murderers since this article was published in April.

Wishing victims of terrorism and violence–wherever and however manifested–much strength and eventual peace.

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Sky flower paired with Turk’s cap (Malvaviscus arboreus), with benevolent sun.

I thank Carol at May Dreams Garden for hosting this monthly bloom bonanza known as Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day.  Join in, share your garden pretties, then click over to her lovely blog to see and learn about blooms from many places.

 

25 thoughts on “Strength and Peace”

  1. I’ve had two oft repeated quotes running through my weary brain of late. To paraphrase the first, we must each become the change we wish for. Summing up the second, the moral arc of this world is long (so long…), but it irrevocably bends toward justice.

    The way you approach the land you live on (and the world you live in) epitomizes both. Peace to you, peace to yours, peace to us all…

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  2. A stirring and moving post. The contrast between nature and the evil of today is so immense that it is hard to comprehend. It is like the Poppies in Flanders’ fields all over again and on a bigger scale.
    The flowers you offer up as a balm of hope, are beautiful.

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    • Thank you, Tracy. It feels a bit lame to even attempt to understand, but it’s the human condition, I suppose. The garden is still in full bloom mode from our wet spring.

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  4. Tina hay tanta maldad y violencia en el mundo que pido a Dios todos los días para que se termine. También pido por mi familia y amigos para que nada malo les pase. La exposición de sus flores ha sido como una plegaria contra la injusticia del mundo. Muchas gracias Tina.

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  6. Beautiful post and sentiments. It’s a powerful thing how nature can help us look outside of ourselves and give us some space to be present, regroup, cultivate compassion and feel part of a larger rhythmic system. It has been a bad week indeed- I for one hope that somehow it opens up a space to cultivate movement and growth in the remains..

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    • Thanks, Toni. I think nature, in all its intricacies, is eternal and hopeful. That the seasons change, that certain insects and birds are more common now, rather than later, and that plants evolve through their life cycles unfettered–as long as we don’t “fetter” them, is healing. Like you, I hope recent tragedies make way for positive change. We can hope.

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  8. I like your post very much. Witnessing all this horror, we feel there is nothing we can do. However, writing this post is doing something by not glossing over terrible events.

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    • Thank you, Alain. I hope it’s helpful–it felt good to write it, though it’s rather like those moments of silence in honor of the fallen–does it help? I do hope so.

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  9. I can relate to how you feel and most of us do. So we can have these lovely flower photos be a tribute to those who died in fear and anguish. My prayers go for them too.

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    • I hadn’t quit thought about our current violence as “other worldly,” but it feels that way, doesn’t it. Thank you–I hope it was, in some tiny, tiny measure, healing.

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  12. Thanks, Tina … and thanks to everyone who commented. There are so many good and caring people in the world, and so much beauty. It’s comforting to reflect on this in the face of hate and violence.

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