Disposing of What’s Dead for New Growth to Emerge

This morning, I spent some time dead heading my prolific Christmas Cactus. Disposing of what’s dead for new growth to emerge is a necessary process. As I removed the wilted blossoms, I noticed something interesting. Next to each dead flower a new bud had formed. If I hadn’t removed the old, I never would have seen the new. It looks like I may be blessed by a second round of showy blossoms. Who knew?

I’ve never had much of a green thumb for indoor plants. The vegetable and flower gardens in my yard are more than abundant. But the house plants are a different story. Unfortunately, they all tend to die.

But this Christmas Cactus is special since it was my sister’s. My brother-in-law gifted it to me when he moved. I asked for this plant as a memento of Beth after she passed away from cancer in 2020. I certainly didn’t want it to end up like my other house plants. So, I read about its care and found out two crucial steps to keep the cactus alive—don’t over water it and fertilize it regularly. This has worked so far.

Disposing of what’s dead is a necessary process with plants as well as in our individual lives. Taking the time for self-examination and involvement in a supportive community are key to this endeavor. But how often are we too busy to do either one?

If I’m totally honest, sometimes it’s the dead weight of mindless activities that hold me back. My husband will be the first to say I need to spend less time on my phone scrolling through social media or playing games and more time in intimate conversation. (Don’t let him know I told you, but cat videos are his time waster). We all have distractions that keep us from valuable connections with others. No wonder we find ourselves in an epidemic of loneliness. We’ve brought it on ourselves.

Self-examination with truth telling requires that we put away these distractions so we can truly look inside ourselves. What dead ideas or thought processes need to go? Am I stuck in certain ways of doing things because it’s always how I’ve done it? Or how my parents did it? Is carrying around dead weight a good use of my energy or is disposing of what’s dead desperately needed?

All of us bear preconceived ideas and prejudices. Some of these thoughts are based on past personal experiences but much of them begin as hearsay or familial tradition. Involvement in a small group is like a mirror reflecting all the areas within that either need to go or I need to modify.

I’m a member of a spiritual support group in my church. Our only commonalities are we’re all Christian and we’re all Caucasian. We vary by age and political affiliation. Our home states extend from Florida to New Jersey to Indiana. A handful of our participates are actually homegrown Appalachians. Most are protestants although we have quite of few Catholics who regularly join us. This diversity is good (although I’d love to have our group even more diverse). I know it has helped me increase my understanding of folks different than myself and stretch my thinking.

Jesus is the constant within our varied mix of personalities.

By avoidance of distractions, purposeful self-examination, and a supportive community I can determine what needs to be changed. However, I doom myself to failure if I try disposing of what’s dead all on my own. It’s so easy to fall back into old habits and ways of thinking without Jesus. When I invite Him into the process and hand over the dead weight I’m carrying to Him, then new growth is sure to emerge. Thanks be to God!

So, here’s what I want you to do. God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out.

The words of the Apostle Paul from Romans 12:1-2 Message Bible

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