There are about 150 varieties of fuchsias each with a special name like pinwheel, flaming pink, cardinal, red spider, pink rain, and snowcap. These plants have the reputation of being expensive and fragile—plants one buys each spring only to have them die each fall. However, in Ireland fuchsias grow like weeds. They line the roadsides with red walls for miles on end. They are beautiful, hardy and need no special care—they have found just the right environment.
People like plants will flourish if placed in the right environment. Sometimes there is the temptation to think of some students as just bad kids—those kids voted most likely to end up in jail. However, that does not need to be so. Sometimes a student is hostile and belligerent for what we are tempted to think is no reason at all. But usually there is a reason; we just do not know what it is. It is the same for many adults.
Oh, that we would pray for God’s wisdom to know how to help those around us find the right environment—to flourish.
Written July 19, 2004