PHOTOS:Mary van Balen
My daughter and I have shared caring for her plant (a schefflera) for years since since she is, in her words, “a nomad.” Such is the plight of an archaeologist. I did not mind, but worried when leaves turned yellow and dropped or an attack of some pest or other threatened to bring its end. Once I cut off healthy stems, rooted them, and carried the rest to the compost pile.
Most recently, after an unusually vicious attack by bugs, I cut the stems off at almost dirt level, and took them with me to my daughter’s new apartment since she would probably be able to stay there for a couple of years. I intended to dump behind the garage what remained and then dispose of the pot since none of my efforts had eradicated the bugs.
I never got around to that, and the other day when I walked through the spare bedroom where it was kept, I was surprised to see tiny green “umbrella” leaves sprouting form the stump. Of course, I thought of this passage from Isaiah that begins: “On that day a shoot shall sprout from the root of Jesse…”
What seems to be dead still holds the sap of life and can give birth again. I love today’s Old Testament reading, full of rich images and unlikely scenarios: a lion lying down with a lamb; a child playing in a cobra’s den; the lion become a vegetarian, eating hay like an ox. (My vegan sister-in-law would love that!)
These pictures adorn Christmas cards and find their way into songs and poetry. They show the world we long for, a world of no hurt or pain, “no harm or ruin on all my holy mountain,” as the prophet says. We will be filled only with the knowledge of the Lord, drowning in its glory just as the water covers the sea.
We may feel spent, our energy gone, our hopes dashed. We may battle demons of depression and mental illness. We may be physically sick or unemployed. Our spirits may seem dead with us. But the juicy sap of God’s self still flows somewhere in our depths, persevering the possibility of life in our darkest, driest times.
Like the child in Isaiah’s magnificent verses, we cannot judge by appearance, but instead can know that God wills good for us and is able to bring it about no matter how impossible that seems.
Sometimes, when we are at our lowest point, we cannot bear to hear such good news because our own suffering overwhelms us. There is no room inside us for joy or hope. Too often we have allowed ourselves to dream only to have our dreams dashed to nothing.
God’s Mercy does not abandon us, even in those times. It remains and will surprise us with something good when we least expect it, like the little schefflera leaves surprised me. 
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