Paradoxes

According to the Concise Oxford Dictionary a paradox is:

1. a seemingly absurd or contradictory statement
2. a person or thing conflicting with a pre-conceived notion of what is reasonable or possible.

In the natural world there are a number of such situations.  I am always amazed in spring to see what seemed dead suddenly burst into life again.  On several occasions I have thought that I had completely lost a particular plant.  One such plant is a beautiful clematis that I planted last year.  Over the winter it completely disappeared.  When I started to prepare the garden this spring, I was about to dig it up and replace it with something a bit sturdier but I noticed a few leaves beginning to open.  So I left it and have had such lovely flowers from it this year.

Such beauty out of what seemed dead



Whatever truth exists in the natural world corresponds to a similar truth in the spiritual realm.  Out of death comes life.  The Bible says that a seed must fall to the ground and die in order to bring forth fruit and Jesus on another occasion said that only if I am prepared to lose my life can I save it.  Of course the ultimate example is of Jesus himself who died to save all.

Another natural paradox is that you need to cut back in order to grow.  It does seem absurd that cutting a plant right back is the only way for it to grow big and strong.  You would naturally assume that cutting back would take away strength and make a plant weaker not stronger.  Sometimes in our lives we need to let go of some things in order to become strong in spirit.  Our dependence on certain things (and people) can actually weaken us and only when we let go of these can we gain strength within ourselves.  A young sapling tree has a prop in order to support it until it has grown but then the prop is removed and it learns to stand in its own strength and thrust out its own roots in order to grow.  We all need help from time to time but there comes a point when we need to stand up straight and grow without depending on all the props around us.  The writer to the Hebrews reminded his readers that they had been followers of the Way for a while now and should be past the baby stage of drinking milk and should be growing stronger in their faith and not relying still on others to feed them all the time. (Hebrews 5:12-14)

In the autumn farmers set fire to the stalks left in the land to make way for the new seed and growth that is to come.  Forest wardens cut down some trees in order to give light and space for others to grow.  Sometimes we have to cut out even what has been useful but has served its purpose in order for future growth to take place.  The trouble is we humans tend to hang on to things that we have enjoyed and so institution is formed instead of new life and future growth.  What has passed has been good and served me well and was very useful for my spiritual growth at that time but maybe some things need to go in order to make room for new and future growth in Him so that I don’t just become part of an institution instead of having a living, vibrant spiritual life.  So I look at the world around me and learn about Kingdom truths and, as part of God’s great creation, about how I should be living.