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If you live anywhere near Winfield, KS, you might have noticed an odd smell in the air recently. As of this writing, a corpse flower (amorphophallus titanium) is the star of the show on the Southwestern College campus, which is home to the Institute for Discipleship. Blooming only rarely, this huge plant stores up energy for five to ten years before flowering for around 24 hours, during which it uses a foul-smelling scent to attract flies and beetles to pollinate itself and repeat the process.
It occurred to me that our Christian journey can look the same, minus (hopefully) the terrible smell. So often, we “store up” our faith experiences – our time in God’s word, our enhanced knowledge of Scripture or our faith gained through personal and shared study, or the places where we see God in our daily lives – and keep that “energy” for ourselves. Could we take a cue from the corpse flower and open ourselves up to attract others to what’s inside? While it doesn’t turn out so well for the fly or the beetle, sharing what we know of God’s goodness pollinates the fruit of God’s spirit in others AND in us – all we have to do is share a story, a resource, a hug, or even a smile.
Don’t be like the corpse flower and wait until the 2030s to bloom again. Who will you open up to and share your faith with, today?
Peace,
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