by Megan Makeever Ali
Pilgrim is a garden of diverse flowers, all tended to by God, the Great Gardener. Whatever flower you are, you are loved and accepted here. We have Dahlias and Daffodils, Marigolds and Morning Glory. I see extroverted sunflowers proudly radiating their traits while the shy baby’s breath lay low in their humble beauty. I see dramatic bleeding hearts, rigid lupines, flamboyant lantanas, and elegant roses. In the garden of Pilgrim, no flower is shamed for their origin, color, or the way or speed in which they grow. We understand that each flower comes from a different seed, weathering storms in their own unique way depending on their background and circumstances. We know that sunflowers with their sturdy stalks, will endure a thunderstorm without flinching, while the frail petunias work with all their might in desperation to stay up. But just because a petunia might have a harder time withstanding the rain does not mean that the petunia is any less of a flower.
In the garden of Pilgrim, we also know that each flower responds to God’s love and sunshine differently depending on the season. Growing up in this garden, I know I spent many years of my life (and still do more often than I would like to admit) as an insecure and frightened bud, closing myself off stubbornly from the beautiful message and love God waits to give me. Through those times, the Pilgrim flowers all around me in full bloom, never once pressured me or impatiently yelled at me to open… all they would do was whisper a gentle reminder that God’s love was there, and wait for me to bloom on my own time table.
My biggest hope for this ministry is that we all can work together to gently remind people inside and outside the Pilgrim garden that they are loved and accepted for the beautiful unique flowers that they are and that spiritual growth is revealed to us in different ways, at different times, and in different environments. We are all growing under the loving hands of our Great Gardener… not just flowers in gardens. God loves the wild daisies in the mountains, the household orchids, and even the lonesome dandelions sprouting through the cracks of sidewalks. Thank you, Pilgrim garden, for always reminding me over the years of this great love.
— Megan Makeever Ali is a music professor at MSU, professional flutist, singer/songwriter and part of the Pilgrim Connect team