What a Herald of Hope Looks Like

Yes, I know that “hope that is seen” is no longer hope, but still…

Several months ago, I attempted to transplant a butterfly milkweed to our Christview Ministries rock garden. I had been warned repeatedly that I needed to get all the taproot, or all was lost. I did my best, digging down on one side and feeling my way down the through the rocky soil until my hand slid under the root before attempting to complete the excavation, but the tricky root turned horizontal on the side opposite my hand and went several feet in that direction. When I dug down on that side, I severed it. I saw no purpose in proceeding, but, nevertheless, I attempted to get the rest of the severed taproot, and succeeded in getting only another foot of it. I decided to plant both the plant (which so far has lived, although seriously damaged by two monarch caterpillars) AND the additional severed foot. The planting of the severed portion felt more like a burial. I did not take my planting of the severed foot very seriously because I covered where I planted it with mulch. But in the last days of the spring season, there emerged through the mulch above the severed root

a baby butterfly milkweed plant.

Make of it what you will,

but I choose to take it

at least as a spiritual metaphor,

perhaps as a divine sign of encouragement,

a herald of hope, if you please.

John Turner