The Lilac Bush | Previous Challenge Entry

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TITLE: The Lilac Bush | Previous Challenge Entry
By Bill VanAalst
08/05/09
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Title: The Lilac Bush

I once had the most exquisite lilac bush. It had beautiful lavender petals that smelled so sweet. This particular lilac was planted right next to a set of steps that lead to the entrance way of the house. The steps were made of flat stones that were simple yet eloquent and at the very top of the step stood the lilac bush.

Everyone who walked up the steps had to pass beneath the Lilac bush. Some people would walk up the steps, duck under the lilac and say things like “cut the bush down.” Others would walk up the steps, duck under the bush and enjoy the experience of having to maneuver their way around the lilac bush.

But as I look back I realized that someone planted the bush there. The bush didn’t have a choice as to where it started out. It just decided to grow where it was planted. It must have had some years where it was well taken care of; all its sucker shoots were trimmed away, the flowers were trimmed back at the end of season, it had plenty of water and maybe even had some fertilizer. And then it had years where it was neglected and even abused by someone trimming to close to its base and damaging its bark. But still the bush grew on and on year by year.

At some point in time the Lilac went from being a small sapling, to an immature bush and then on to a full grown, mature, and beautiful thing. I am sure that if the bush could talk it would tell us how it felt about being planted so close to the steps. It would probably explain how grateful it was that no one listened to the man that said “cut it down’ every time he walked under it. After all it wasn’t the Lilac’s fault it where it was planted. It just chose to grow and grow and by God’s grace become the beautiful thing God intended it to be.

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