Americans, Be Like the Pansies - a photo essay

“How does, a pansy, for example, select the ingredients from soil to get the right colors for the flower? Now there’s a great miracle. I think there’s a supreme power behind all of this. I see it in nature.”  - Clyde Tombaugh.

Pansies are a type of violet that come in many varieties and rich colors and adorn my garden in fall, winter and early spring. They are brave, wouldn’t think of giving up as easily as summer flowers which perform brilliantly in warm weather but grow spindly and produce fewer and smaller flowers as the end of summer draws near. Pansies survive the winters of many states and go on to bloom beautifully well into spring, showing off the prettiest at the end of their growing cycle.

In February, with the determination of soldiers defending their post during a battle, my pansies fought to survive being buried beneath four inches of ice with a layer of snow covering that.

So when I say be like the pansies, Americans, I’m thinking of hanging in there through the tough seasons. We’ve all been through a lot during the last year: drastic changes in our lives related to Covid, seeing unrest in our country, our border unsecured and our country changing rapidly in ways we worry aren’t healthy. It isn’t always losing a job, a health crisis, marital problems or wayward children that sends crippling fear through our bodies and causes us to grow weary and lose our courage. Sometimes, it’s what’s going on in our country: wokeness, cancel culture and indoctrinating our school children. These things are like dark shadows sweeping across our beloved land. They worry us and threaten to break our spirits. Combined with smaller issues such as gas shortages, the grocer being out of your favorite products and seemingly endless mask wearing can eventually make us want to shake our heads and give up. Sometimes, like the pansies lying beneath the snow and ice, we feel buried by our frustration, fears and the swift changes in our country and our lifestyles. We become fatigued. With wilted spirits, we lose hope.

Not so fast, Americans! Remember the pansies lying crumpled beneath the ice and snow? When temperatures warmed, although a bit weathered, they rebounded and became glorious, the most beautiful they’d been all season.

In April as I began planting the spring flowers, I regretfully had to remove the pansies. I noticed what I believed was new sprouts growing beneath the foliage of the large ones. Not certain that’s what they were, I decided to dig up one and plant it in a small pot. It grew and now it’s blooming.

Even more remarkable, the pansies I pulled out and tossed aside clung to the bits of dirt around their roots and bloomed happily until they were mowed over.

Americans, like pansies, come in many colors and varieties. Like these delightful flowers, we can be excited to bloom with enthusiasm in spite of setbacks if we remain vigilant, hold on to our principles and pull together.

So, if you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed with life in America right now, pray about it. Ask God for His greatest blessings on this country and to use you to help bring it about for we know the Lord delights in making us shine for His glory. He can revive the American spirit just like He reproduced the little pansy that now grows in my kitchen. I believe in America. I believe in her citizens. And I believe each of us has the potential to live vibrant and glorious lives, to make our own and other’s existence better and to make this country the great nation it is meant to be. How about you? What do you believe in?

Written by Linda Sawyer

May 20,2021