Viriditas

Viriditas is a Latin word that means 'greenness'. The English equivalent is viridity.

Rapidly growing plants

Down the ages the Latin word has been used in a religious context to mean spiritual and physical health, but Kim Stanley Robinson used it in a different way in his Mars trilogy. By viriditas he meant the ability of living things to prosper and grow in rich abundance.

The plants in this pot have grown vigorously and are flowering abundantly so they are displaying considerable viriditas. Compare this post with the earlier one I posted on 9th June.

The idea of viriditas can be used to describe anything that is full of life. Flowers in the garden, trees and forests, fish in the sea, children, good ideas, successful companies, and successful churches.

So what are the underlying causes of viriditas?  Understanding that is the key to success. One important cause is organic growth, growth that feeds on its own success.

The more a child learns the more potential he or she has for further learning. Just think of the opportunities for learning that open up when a child learns to read.

The more a plant spreads this year, the more seeds there will be next year. How do you think this principle applies to a company or a church?

(If you liked this you might also like Journeys of heart and mind and Quote me on this.)

Organic growth

I've been battling the weeds in my garden. For a variety of reasons I fell way behind with this work and now I'm paying the price!

Weeds in my garden

The weeds in my garden are a wonderful example of organic growth, similar to the kind of growth I'd like to see for the church.

For a start it is spontaneous. I left this plot tidy at the end of the autumn, in March there were a few weeds, but now look at it!

In the cleared area at the front you can see a courgette plant that I just put in today. And in the background a massive array of weeds of all sorts. All I had to do to produce this massive growth of weeds was - nothing!

They all grew from tiny, insignificant seeds. Little specks of life wrapped up in hard shells, just waiting for warmth and rain and sunlight. When the conditions were right the seeds sprang into life and voila - weeds.

Not only that, each type of seed produced its own kind of weed. So if I want to see the church grow, I'm going to need an insignificant-looking seed of the right kind. Then I need to place it in the right place at the right time and it will grow, just like that. But it had better be the right seed, the right time and the right place.

What does this say to you about planting churches?

How will I know the right time and place?

Where will I find the right kind of seed?

(If you liked this you might also like Journeys of heart and mind and Quote me on this.)

Planting up the urn

Newly planted in the large urn

Donna and I visited Waresley Park Garden Centre for a light lunch today. After munching ham and cheese toasties and swigging our excellent coffees we spent a short time browsing around.

I bought a new hose for the garden and a trailing Petunia. Donna bought some chilli pepper plants and a Father's Day card.

Back at home I planted up the Petunia, a white Verbena, and a couple of Mesembryanthemums in a large earthenware urn we have in a patio outside the back door. It will be interesting to see how they develop over the summer. Hopefully they'll put on quite a show. I have no idea what colour the Mesembryanthemums will be, they came from a mixed tray and are not in flower yet.

The wonderful thing about organic systems is that they grow all by themselves. It will involve almost no effort on my part. Perhaps I'll need to apply a little fertiliser, enough water if rain is short, and cut off some dead flowers. The plants will just grow and flower abundantly.

What would we do without organic systems? We are organic ourselves, of course. We are far more capable than any robot and we are not in short supply. Maybe there are even too many of us in this world! Like all life forms, people are just amazing. Provide air, water and food and we multiply over time; we think and invent and write and make things, we interact in society, we are utterly amazing.

Perhaps the most amazing thing of all is that we can take one another so much for granted. We should treasure one another and rejoice daily. Truly, familiarity breeds contempt. Sadly we see wars and struggles all around. People can be unkind, thoughtless, greedy and arrogant. But we are truly amazing even so.

So let's remember that we are amazing and love and respect one another as we should.

(If you liked this you might also like Journeys of heart and mind and Quote me on this.)