 Ann Geddes' photographs came from her own painful past. |
84 – Transplanted Trees and Flowers
As Gotthold was examining, with delight, some
double pinks, which at the time were in full blossom, he was told by the
gardener that the same plants had in former years borne only single flowers, but
that they had been improved and beautified by repeated transplantations, and
that in the same manner a change of soil increases the growth, and accelerates
the bearing of a young tree.
This reminded Gotthold that the same happens to
men. Many a man, who at home would scarcely have borne even single flowers, when
transplanted by Divine Providence abroad, bears double ones; another, who, if
rooted in his native soil, would never have been more than a puny twig, is
removed to a foreign clime, and there spreads far and wide his luxuriant boughs,
and bears fruit to the delight of all. In his native place, a man is seldom
judged of by his real qualities, but much oftener by the opinion of his friends
or adversaries. If of high and noble lineage, the luster of his family may
easily brighten his darkness, and not seldom empty bladders swim upon the
surface. If, on the contrary, he be of humble parentage, and the first or
second, perhaps, who has shed the light of honors or arts upon the family, all
the rest, from dislike or fear, do their utmost to obscure it, imagining that
the more one rises, the more must the others fall. At home, accordingly, a man
is esteemed only as much as love or hatred, friendship or enmity, favor or
dislike, permit him to be. Abroad it is the man himself who is considered, and
not the coat he wears. Often, too, strangers are like the gardeners, or flower
fanciers, who prefer beautiful exotics for the ornaments of their beds.
My God, I thank Thee for having, so far above
all my expectations, transplanted me from the place of my nativity to a foreign
soil, where, until this hour, Thou hast shaded me by Thy grace, and shed on me
the dew of Thy blessing! Enable me to bear much fruit unto Thee and my neighbor,
and, with Jacob, daily to say:
“I am not worthy of the least of all the
mercies, and of all the truth which Thou hast showed unto thy servant.”
