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O Radix Jesse
During Advent, members of the A Nun’s Life community will be posting reflections on the Jesse Tree and the O Antiphons.
Day 19 :: O Radix Jesse written by Regina
O Root of Jesse, standing as a sign among the peoples;
before you kings will shut their mouths,
to you the nations will make their prayer:
Come and deliver us, and delay no longer.
Two years ago after my sister’s kidney transplant, I planted a Bleeding Heart plant in her honor. And then I promptly forgot to tend to it, and it withered away. When our landscaper cleaned up the garden in late summer, the plant was gone.
My untidy garden
The following spring as I came into the house after work, I noticed a green shoot, roughly in the spot where I had planted the Bleeding Heart. As I am an untidy gardener, I did not pay it much attention, thinking it was perhaps a weed, or at best a wild flower. Several weeks later, I came home and found a tiny pink blossom on my “weed” – our plant had come back, because the roots had never been torn away – it remained in the earth, patiently awaiting it’s time to bloom yet again.
As we complete this homestretch in Advent, the cry of “Come and deliver us” feels particularly pressing, particularly acute. We long to be delivered from the dark (literal and spiritual, for some), we long to be delivered from the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, we long to be delivered from the frustration of politics as usual and corporate greed… Even in our longing, though, we spy hope, like a tiny bloom on a spring plant, because we long for the Root of Jesse, promised to us so very long ago. The Root of Jesse is strong, it is sure, and no amount of neglect, or hapless tending to our spirit changes that. The Root of Jesse remains, and so our hope of deliverance remains.
* * Want to revisit the other symbols of Advent? Click here on Jesse Tree. * *
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{ 2 comments }
The power of strong roots can never be underestimated! Thank you for the reflection, Regina. It made me think about the times in my life where I didn’t realize that new growth was occurring, only to discover it months or even years later.
This is so true. It is also interesting that if we cut back the old growth, it gives room for the new, wonderous growth to come in. I am always amazed how God moves in my live when I am able to let go of the old ways. God’s root is deep in my life. I just need to let it grow, and not try and tend it myself, as I inevitably mess it up. (grin)
Christine42