A Long way to Grow

Last year, the children at St Saviour's, as part of their Sunday School activities during the Mass, planted some sunflower seeds and, over the weeks, they watched them grow in plastic cups until they were large enough and strong enough to grow within the church grounds. Throughout the summer they grew up and grew tall, offering a splash of colour at the north-west corner of the church. This summer, despite the avid weeding and clearing of paths by those who busily take care of the garden outside St Saviour's, a stubborn seed, obviously dropped and blown across the path last year, has grown into a plant and, rising from between the old paving slabs a solitary sunflower has emerged, slightly dwarfed but growing strong and growing well. The gardeners have bowed to nature and allowed it to grow and now it stands proudly in the centre of the path.

Not a stone's throw away from the sunflower is the church notice board, boldly declaring that St Saviour's is 'a place to grow in the love of God.' Perhaps we forget, all too easily, that growing is a rather garrulous business, full of risk, full of danger, full of necessary stubborness and perserverance. Growing in the love of God, like any growing up, is accompanied by growing pains as well as joy. And so my mind is turned to the image offered by Jesus: he is the vine, we are the branches and, in order to grow and flourish, we are required to be pruned. There is always the need for attention, loving attention. At St Saviour's, I think, we are aware of this. It's not spoken out loud or shared aloud in any obvious way but I think we are aware of our fragility and of our need for one another and, also, the difficulties and challenges, the work and commitment involved in growing. We know that we are far from perfect, that we have a long way to go (or, rather, grow!) but perhaps, as we struggle through the cracks of life we will be able to offer a splash of colour and be a sign of life to those who pass by. At least, that is our hope.