Unitarian Universalist Church of Palo Alto

Reflection on Celebration

A Reflection by Brad Youngman, Worship Associate
September 23, 2001
Palo Alto, CA

This Reflection will center on an event in my house in the spring.

I had to tent the house to kill the termites. Our atrium, beautifully planted by my wife Cissie, was expected to die in the process, as the termite killing chemicals are hard on plants as well. We took some of the plants out (including a 5 year old Japanese maple with as many roots as we could get), cut some back to almost nothing, and expected to have to replant the entire area. The plants that we took out burst forth when we put them back, a trumpet flower plant that we cut back to stalks slowly put out leaves, then grew riotously and filled the atrium with fragrance, and an immense split leaf philodendron re-established itself from a few great leaves and some roots that were left in jars of water. Ferns and broad-leafed plants that were blackened re-established themselves in abundance.

I am not a gardener. I dig holes and arrange irrigation for Cissie when she tends her creation. But the persistence and durability of those plants amazed me. And I don't think that other life here on Earth differs. This planet, and probably the universe, is suffused with life, and while some aspect of it may suffer or die, the totality is incredibly persistent.

Life is this Celebration of that potential and of presence.

The Celebration shows the face of the Holy.