SAUCIER — In full bloom

One of our granddaughters was involved in a horticulture project at school. 

Eager to pass on her learning, she told her little brother some of the things he should be doing for the aloe vera plant he kept in his bedroom.

He dutifully went upstairs, gave it a little water, talked to it, moved it to the light, and put on some music

As he was leaving the room, he turned back to his plant and said, “Grow in peace.”

I write this the week of my personal semi sesquicentennial — 75 years of fumbling my way along.

That “Grow in peace” struck a chord.

Looking back, I see growth and change. But not all of it, maybe not even most of it, came from peace.

I’ve had a life blessed with far more good people and good outcomes than I deserve, but what growth I have experienced has often come from disappointment, failure and tragedy. 

Like most people, it is the losses, the struggles and the pain that have sometimes nudged me, and often pushed me into growth.

The good news is that bad news, as Father Greg Boyle says, doesn’t shake our faith, but shapes it.

In hard times, there is little peace. All we can do is grab on to whatever faith will support us and ride out the grief, the despair, the loneliness or whatever storm is tossing us about.

It is only after this, when time has finally provided a little peace, that we can reflect on what happened, examine our wounds, and stand back far enough to see that the depth of our suffering was testament to the depth of our love and desire.

In this post-traumatic peace, we are changed and tempered, more grateful for what has been and more accepting of what will be.

But as I age, there is another meaning to my grandson’s words. 

Perhaps it’s the “forest dweller” stage in the Hindu texts, or the lack of pressure to perform and provide, but I find a greater sense of peace in my daily life.

Prayer has become more important — a quiet, wordless prayer. I don’t know whether the prayer creates peace, or the peace encourages prayer, but it makes little difference.

The expanding peace grounds me in the present, nourishes an awe of others, and offers glimpses of God in my life and a trust in its future.

I have a long way to go, but like a loved aloe vera, I hope to “Grow in peace.”