“In a world shadowed by cruelty, violence and loss, is there good reason for the planting of flowers?

“Ah, yes! For these bursts of color
and beautiful blooms are bright dabs of grace,
witnesses to a promise,
reminders of a speeding beauty
more eternal, and therefore stronger,
than any evil, than any grief,
than any injustice or violence.

“In [planting flowers] and in in all labors
of beauty and harmony,
praise and reconciliation,
we become God’s co-workers
and faithful citizens of his kingdom,
by acts both small and great, bearing witness
to the perfect beauty that was,
to the ragged splendor that yet is,
and to the hope of the greater glory
that is to come,
which is the immeasurable glory
of God revealed to us,
In the redeemed natures of all things.

“Though our eyes yet strain to see it so,
these tiny seeds, bulbs, or velvet buds
we have planted
are more substantial than all the collected
evils of this growing world.
Their color and beauty speak a truer word
than all greed and cruelty
and suffering and harm.

“Because their work is so great, we pray,
O Father, your blessing on these small
flowers. May their roots work deep,
finding rich soil. May their leaves and buds
be wakened by gentle sun and watered by
ample rain. May the strength of their fragile
beauty in bloom give pause to passers-by,
who will meet in their sweet scent and radiant
forms whisperings of grace, stirrings of the
spirit, and the awakenings of eternal hungers,
that can be met and satisfied only in you.

“Let these flowers, O Lord, bear witness in their deepest natures to eternal things.
Let our lives also, O Lord, do the same. Amen.”

Excerpted from “A Liturgy for the Planting of Flowers” in @everymomentholy by Douglas Kaine McElvey, published Rabbit Room Press, 2017