Iris in the Bog

There she stood in all her glowing beauty – head and shoulders above all the other things around her, with a radiant glow that was eye catching and made me stop in my tracks.

Her name was Iris.

On my daily walk I had gone past the beautiful Loe Bar Lake, which links the sea at Porthleven and the market town of Helston, separated by a sand bar, and at one side there is a boggy wooded area with smaller trees; thick peat like mud that you would not want to get stuck in, or let your dog wander into!

And there she was – the solitary beauty in the middle of the bog!

‘Iris Pseudacorus’ is her official title, but we can call her Iris.

Under her feet were years of muck and decayed vegetation, but instead of causing her to rot, it simply enhanced her growth and her beauty. She was standing in the richest of compost and fertiliser and simply blossoming.

So think for a moment about the ‘stuff’ of life that’s been thrown your direction that you thought would harm you –years worth of stuff – that has actually helped you and given you the nutrients to grow. The things that died off and decayed, and the things that seemed they were going to swamp you, turned into the best compost beneath your feet.

Genesis 41:52 says that Joseph named his second son Ephraim and said, “It is because God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering.”

Iris is a hardy plant, with a beautiful flower and she blossoms in the bog!

What about you?