A couple of months ago I had to prune back my jasmine vine that had nearly choked itself in the southwest corner of my outdoor garden.  There’s a wooden fence encompassing the garden on which I had tried to guide this particular vine to climb.  What I never expected was that the jasmine would end up trying to grow vertically so fervently that it literally twisted itself with dozens of its vines until it shot out and off of the pole I have in the corner for hanging shade tarps in the summertime (reminder: I reside in South Florida subtropics so year-round gardening requires shade protection for some plants).

As often is the case when I work in my garden, the physical reality of what is transpiring with my plants illustrates the current state of affairs in my life and perhaps others around me.

In the weeks following my severe pruning of the jasmine, I have strung up trellises made of twine that provide a nice framework and extension of the fence.  Before I left for a 3 week trip around Thanksgiving I “highly suggested” to the new vine growth that they cling to the new trellis by initially wrapping them into the bottom portions.  When I returned in early December I entered my garden and immediately noticed that the jasmine had taken the suggestion to heart and had several upon several vines growing throughout the trellis.

If left alone, unbridled energy can paralyze and stagnate what could otherwise result in amazing productivity in life.  Apathy breeds inactivity which in turn can depress and hurt a soul–many times starting a vicious circle that is difficult to stop or reverse.  In turn, too much output can also lead to burnout and imprisonment by an intensely mundane grind.

My jasmine has a crazy life force that compels it to grow so long and extensively in this humble corner of my garden (the other jasmine plants in my garden don’t come anywhere the growth of this particular plant). Providing a few different trellises for it to grow upon has now assisted this plant to effectively climb both upward and sideways.  When it blooms in coming months, I’ll have countless blooms in fragrant unison making an unbelievable wall of perfume.

There must be a balance and a basis for our life as Creation continues to propel us forward.

R.V.S.B.