After our Cinco de Madre party, I went out on the front porch to wave goodbye to the kids as they got in their cars to drive away. A dandelion was blooming in the cracks of the brick pavers … so I carefully pulled it up … and ever-so-carefully carried it across the front, headed to deposit it in the forest on the far side, over next to the workshop.
As I reached the front of the workshop, I was suddenly captivated by the shaft of sunlight from the setting sun shining across the path and highlighting the dandelion puff as I walked by. This verse immediately popped into my head:
“The length of our days is seventy years – or eighty, if we have the strength; yet their span is but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away. … Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” – Psalm 90:10, 12
I had to pause and get a photo of the dandelion puff with the setting sun.
The dandelion puff has reached the end of its lifespan … and its seed puffs are about to fly away. Just like the sun has reached the end of its span for this particular day … and the day has now “flown away.” And just like each of our lives eventually reach their end … and our souls “fly away” back to our Maker – God.
But even though the dandelion itself has reached its end, its seed puffs fly away in the wind to land in far-flung places and bring new dandelions!
So too, our lives reach their end … and our life’s “seed puffs” likewise “fly away” in the wind of life to land in places we will never even know, to bring hope and life and encouragement to those who come after us.
For example: A book which has had a profound impact on my life is – “Evidence Not Seen” by Darlene Deibler Rose. Darlene wrote about her experiences as a prisoner of war during World War 2. The events she wrote about occurred almost 100 years ago. Darlene herself has gone to Heaven to be with Jesus. Yet the “seed puffs” of her life have “floated” into my life bringing hope and encouragement and strengthening my faith immensely!
The “seed puffs” from our life “fly away” on the wind to have an impact we will never even know!
I think of the little white Columbine wildflower growing in the forest (which I wrote about in the last blog post). I can’t help but wonder if that little white Columbine wildflower might have been from wildflower seeds I sprinkled throughout that area 5 or 6 years ago. Those seeds never really sprouted or did anything. I had just assumed them to be a wasted effort.
But now … 5 years later … a little white Columbine is growing and blooming.
Sometimes the “seed puffs” of our life don’t show any evidence of “doing anything” until years later. We assume the “seed puffs” of our life are a wasted effort.
But we won’t ever know the full story.
The sun sets on our life … and our soul flies away to our Maker – God. And the “seed puffs” of our life “fly away” to spread hope and life and encouragement, even long after we are gone.
“The length of our days is seventy years – or eighty, if we have the strength; yet their span is but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away. … Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” – Psalm 90:10, 12
