Danny had green fingers.
When he died
he left behind
not only a glorious garden
filled with flowers, shrubs and trees
but he also left behind
dozens of pots and planters
filled with cuttings, seedlings,
tiny slips of plants
and even cactuses!
Danny gave to each of these plants
the exact same thing –
the opportunity to grow.
“Sure give it a chance”,
he would say about an ailing plant,
“you never know what it will do!”

Danny tended to these wee plants
and, indeed, many of them thrived
under his patient and loving care.

I was reminded of Danny
today at Mass
when we all heard the story
of the fig tree
that produced no fruit
for the third year in a row.
The fig tree’s owner
wanted to dig it out
but the gardener pleaded its cause –
“Give it another year
and I’ll tend it …
Maybe it will bear fruit then.”

That gardener sounded so like Danny!
And I take heart from that.
I can’t help thinking that
My God tends to me
in my times of failure
with tenderness, patience and care
just like Danny did
with his green fingers
as he gently tended
to each of his wee plants.

© Claire Murray, 28th February 2016
(Luke 13: 1-9)