The Golden Shower Tree

We’re all so very different. Some of us love the coolness of shade, preferring…or needing…to sit and rest under the protective covering of tree branches, arbors and awnings. I think of our Hostas and Clivia that thrive under our Podocarpus.   When we trimmed those large trees, the amount of sun that began to beat down on these under-plantings scorched their leaves. Extra water helped them live but could not restore the crispy edges to their former beauty.

Hostas and Clivia in our shady garden 2004

Other plants love and must live in full, direct sun. And even more, tropical plants, like our Hawaiian Plumeria and two trees that were a gift from our neighbor and friend from India, the Cassia Fistula, begin blooming like crazy when temperatures rise and humidity soars.

Cassia Fistula, also known as Golden Shower Tree

This deciduous tree, also known as the Golden Shower Tree, does not look pretty as its leaves begin dying and dropping right in the middle of summer. It doesn’t follow the pattern of other plants that give up their leaves in autumn. Instead, it looks like the intense summer sun has caused its death! Giving it extra water does nothing to stop it from dumping its leaves at the height of the heat. This is how God created it to be…and it’s at this same time that beautiful bunches of yellow flower clusters form and cascade down its branches. This tropical tree is definitely not dead…it’s delightfully different.

Isn’t that what each of us is in the garden of God – those growing in the body of Christ? Aren’t we delightfully different…gifted for His own unique purpose? As it says in Isaiah 61:3, “They will be called…a planting of the Lord for the display of His splendor.” (Emphasis mine.)

For those of us who are being trained to trust our good and gracious God during days of difficulty, may we, too, see beautiful bunches of flowers form in our lives. As we sing hymns of praise, gratitude and trust…may those glorious clusters cascade from our lips and spill out onto others around us!

So, as I sit and rest today in the coolness of the shade of evergreen trees, I’m going to enjoy those delightful flowers flourishing around me. They truly are “a planting of the Lord for the display of His splendor.”