Christmas Cactus

           There’s a tall maple outside my bedroom window, not as tall as it was a few years ago when the “professional” tree cutters hacked it. (We DIDN’T go to Angie’s List.) Thankfully, it recovered, as it’s one of the few mature trees still standing on my block. Several years ago, a summer storm knocked down a few trees, including one through my mother-in-law’s living room window. But that’s a story for another day.

            I love my tree, especially in summer when its green leaves provide a privacy curtain and make me feel as if I’m living in a tree house. And I love it in autumn with its golden and browning leaves. That’s how it looked Tuesday morning, November 5, when I left for school. That’s the day I broke my ankles. By the time I returned home Friday, November 15, after two surgeries and staying in two different hospital rooms and one rehab room, the tree was bare.

            My mourning for the tree was comforted by my Christmas cactus, which sits on the bedroom windowsill. While the maple undressed for winter, the cactus adorned itself with fuchsia blooms.

            Whenever my Christmas cactus blooms, I think of Sandy and her middle school science students. It was during my first year at Watsontown Christian Academy when one afternoon eighth-grader Amber brought me a Styrofoam cup of dirt with a small green stalk. The class had planted cuttings and now gave the extras to all the teachers.

            I kept the cup on my desk, occasionally remembering to water it, never noticing any growth. More than once, I considered dumping it in the trash, but I finally took it home and planted it in a real pot with more dirt. I was surprised and delighted when a new leaf formed.

            Fourteen years and several new, larger pots later, the plant crowds my bedroom windowsill. I become excited whenever the blossoms appear, never more so than this year. Remembering how small and ordinary it looked when I received it, I marvel at its mature majesty.

            In several parables, Jesus compared the Kingdom of God to a growing plant which begins puny and becomes powerful. (Mark 4:26 – 32) In fact, the theme of small beginnings runs throughout Scripture: A childless older couple, Abraham and Sarah, became a great nation. A shepherd, the overlooked youngest of eight sons, founded a royal and eternal dynasty. A baby born to a poor young Galilean woman became the redeemer of humankind.

            “Does anyone dare despise this day of small beginnings?” Zechariah 4:10, The Message

Get your own highlighters

             In the realm of vocabulary, I decided a few years ago to color code the parts of speech, so that when students do “Completing the Sentence,” they can look through six nouns or ten adjectives or four verbs instead of choosing between all twenty words. Do you get what I’m saying? I go down through the list of sentences and say, “Numbers 1,2, 5, 8, 9, 10, 14, 15, 17, 19, and 20 are all orange,” meaning they’re adjectives. 

            Most units are overloaded with adjectives.

            So, yeah, adjectives are orange, obviously, orange being so bold and flamboyant. (Sorry that looks red.) Verbs are green, active like growing things. Nouns are blue because they just sit there. What are the actual lyrics to the vocabulary the song I keep hearing in my head? Blue, blue, my nouns are blue…The occasional adverb is pink.

            My boss thinks I coddle the kids. They should be able to determine which part of speech is needed from the context of the sentence. He’s right, but the books look so pretty when they’re color coded. (I know “pretty” is a lame and unspecific adjective, but if it’s good enough for Christian fiction Empress Karen Kingsbury, it’s more than good enough for me.) Actually, “pretty” isn’t good enough; the books look festive, like a never-ending vocabulary fiesta.

            I just wish the kids would get their own highlighters. They’re listed as a required supply  every year, but someone is always borrowing mine. Coddling, I know.

            I also use highlighters in Bible class. When we study the Gospels, we color code the Gospel of Mark. Every student receives a copy of Mark in the New King James Version adapted from www.biblegateway.com. I take out all those section headings that alert readers to what they’re going to read and what to think about it. I cruelly make the students read the passage and tell me what it’s about. 

            Feeding the Five Thousand. Duh. Read Mark 6:30 -44 and you’re going to realize that Jesus fed five thousand men with five loaves of bread and two fish. Not even sophomores need Thomas Nelson to tell them that.

            So when we read Mark, we highlight miracles orange, parables blue, teachings green, and events yellow. Old Testament quotes or allusions become pink. Geographical locations are underlined. 

            This works great unless someone is thinking about vocabulary while highlighting Mark. Could get messy.

            Yes, I know there are rainbow study Bibles already out there. You can buy them from www.christianbook.com. But what fun is that? Somebody else has already decided what each verse is about. William C. Lincoln, my former Bible professor, would not like that, not one little bit. 

            I also use highlighters at home, and that’s really where this blog started. I was in the psalms this morning, a place I hide when life doesn’t seem to work. David ben Jesse seemed also to have a frequently malfunctioning life, so I always appreciate what he wrote. 

            Today I read Psalm 86 and it occurred to me that for every problem I have, God has a complementary quality or solution. You know, like complementary angles, one of those few things that remain with me from Geometry. I made two columns in my journal—me and God—and started listing things.

            Then I thought, “Highlighters!” 

            So here I am, electronically highlighting Psalm 86 (NIV, 1984) from www.biblegateway.com. There’s nothing particularly deep about my method and this is a rough draft. It just helps me see who God is, what qualities he offers, what he does to heal my frequently messed up mind and spirit.

            I invite you to try it. Just get your own highlighters. 

Psalm 86

A prayer of David.

yellow = me                blue = God

¹ Hear, O Lord, and answer me,
    for I am poor and needy.
² Guard my life, for I am devoted to you.
    You are my God; save your servant
    who trusts in you.
³ Have mercy on me, O Lord,
    for I call to you all day long.
⁴ Bring joy to your servant,
    for to you, O Lord,
    I lift up my soul.

⁵ You are forgiving and good, O Lord,
    abounding in love to all who call to you.
⁶ Hear my prayer, O Lord;
    listen to my cry for mercy.
⁷ In the day of my trouble I will call to you,
    for you will answer me.

⁸ Among the gods there is none like you, O Lord;
    no deeds can compare with yours.
⁹ All the nations you have made
    will come and worship before you, O Lord;
    they will bring glory to your name.
¹⁰ For you are great and do marvelous deeds;
    you alone are God.

¹¹ Teach me your way, O Lord,
    and I will walk in your truth;
give me an undivided heart,
    that I may fear your name.
¹² I will praise you, O Lord my God, with all my heart;
    I will glorify your name forever.
¹³ For great is your love toward me;
    you have delivered me from the depths of the grave.

¹⁴ The arrogant are attacking me, O God;
    a band of ruthless men seeks my life—
    men without regard for you.
¹⁵ But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God,
    slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.
¹⁶ Turn to me and have mercy on me;
    grant your strength to your servant
    and save the son of your maidservant.
¹⁷ Give me a sign of your goodness,
    that my enemies may see it and be put to shame,
    for you, O Lord, have helped me and comforted me.

            Did I mention I also highlight the weekly lunch menu before I tack it to the bulletin board?