Flowers for Mother’s Day

Have you ever gone on a God Hunt? A God Hunt begins when you teach yourself to look for God’s hand at work in the everyday occurrences of your life. Here’s one of my personal God Hunt Sightings:



Cirilo Leon, from Oaxaca, Mexico lives with us in the gardening season. Cirilo used to be my brother-in-law’s gardener for eleven years, and after the estate was sold and still needing to make money to support his wife and children, he picked up other clients along the estates up our road. Cirilo eventually came to live with us. After all, he was practically one of the family.

In Mexico, Mother’s Day is a big day for honoring the matriarch. Any daughters throw a big fiesta, the family gathers, gifts are given and mother is highly honored. Cirilo has concluded that my family—and since I only have one daughter, so particularly Melissa—do not do enough to make me feel special. “Why you not have fiesta?” he asked Melissa once. “Your mother a good lady.”

Actually, Melissa is a wonderful and generous (overly-generous) daughter. I have no complaints about any of my children. I figure three out of four (cards, phone calls, Hi, Moms!) each year is pretty good. Generally, one of the four forgets that it is Mother’s Day, but the rest always manage to fit something in.

So when I came downstairs early in the morning last Sunday (Mother’s Day) there was a pitcher of flowers for me on the coffee table in the living room. Cirilo had bought me flowers for Mother’s Day. I was surprised by how touched I was by this small token of remembrance. “Cirilo,” I said when he came up from his room in the basement. “You bought me flowers! How lovely of you!”

I did make a point of telling Cirilo that we had celebrated Mother’s Day the evening before by going to see The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel with my daughter and son-in-law (if you haven’t seen this film with Judy Dench, Maggie Smith, Tom Wilkinson and Dev Patel of Slumdog Millionaire fame, do fit it in). Then I told him that the family was gathering in the evening, but I don’t think it all quite fit the standard of a Mexican fiesta Mother’s Day. I could tell he was thinking, Well at least they are doing something for this nice lady.

I’ve passed the flowers on the dining room table several times a day since Sunday, and I always think, “Oh how lovely. Cirilo gave those to me for Mother’s Day.” It is a reminder of his kindness, a marker of a kind of goodness.

This reminds me of the Scripture verse from Psalm 103:1-2:

“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy Name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.”

The world this May spring is like passing Cirilo’s Mother’s Day flowers on the dining room table. Every green thing, every bee buzzing around the bee hive, the rabbit eyeing my just-planted garden, the robins waiting to bathe in the fountain when it bubbles up are a reminder of all his benefits. Bless the Lord, O my soul.

I spy God!