Where do you go when you’ve reached the top? The picture illustrating this posting shows what my vine in the container garden did when it reached the top. It climbed up the porch support and bumped its leafy head on the porch ceiling. Trying to be helpful, I tied a nice, soft string from one metal post to the other. I had visions of the vine obediently crawling across the ceiling, going leaf over leaf along the string and then going down the other support. My porch would be an arbor, a leafy, green entryway to the front door. Alas, it seems that the vine had other plans or perhaps, no plans at all. You can see what happened. It just went willy nilly, without purpose or direction. It’s still beautiful, no doubt, and presents a nice, green contrast against the white ceiling boards but I can see my dreams of a leafy arch were just that–dreams.
All summer that vine grew, probably enjoying the challenge of climbing, but after it could grow no more upward, it refused to take a horizontal path. Maybe it wanted new heights to climb, since it is still doing its best to continue growing vertically. I admire the vine’s tenacity but I wonder why it has refused to go along with my idea of the way it should grow.
As I thought about it, I wondered if, within its green genes (pardon the choice of words) it was programmed to enjoy the challenge of height. Its purpose in life was to grow tall and the ceiling has thwarted that purpose. I also wondered what lesson it could hold for me, a lowly, earthbound writer? I enjoy the challenge of a climb too. I like to write, re-write, polish what I’ve written, and try again. I keep reaching for the top. There is no doubt that I am a long way from that goal but it is fun to keep trying and if someone tried to re-route my direction, I might be kind of stubborn too. So, I think perhaps whatever purpose God puts within our hearts, it is up to us to exert every effort to be what He has planned for us to be. And, if something unforeseen or immovable impedes our progress, we can do what the vine is doing, spread out in a new direction and continue being the beautiful, unique creation that only we can be.
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