Be Strange and Wonderful!

Have you ever heard something described as “strange and wonderful?“  For years this has turned into a joke of sorts, describing marriage, “our marriage is strange and wonderful, he’s strange and I’m wonderful.“  I’ve seen it engraved on wooden signs, written in greeting cards, and I’ve heard it stated in our own home.  Dale and I try to share equally in who gets to be the strange and who the wonderful, but most days he is both.  I can say with all honestly, my husband is not like any other I know!  The wonderful: he cleans the house, does all our yard work and even cooks dinner many nights.  He is the kindest person I know and loves me, even when I act unlovely.  Ironically, those same wonderful things about Dale, are also what make him very strange!  This type of behavior is not typical, so I’ve been told, of men in other marriages.  I get asked often by other women, if they can borrow him, to which I always reply, “absolutely not!”

While Dale has the wonderful category pretty well wrapped up, and that makes him somewhat strange…there are times to me, he is just plain strange!  He has taken up a hobby in recent years, that I find odd.  Not only do I find him odd for wanting to do it, but I find the hobby itself odd.  I am mature enough to realize that odd to me, just means I don’t ’get it,’ it’s not anything I care to learn or engage in.  It’s not wrong to do it, not unhealthy and it’s not hurting anyone, apparently…but I still think it’s strange.  You see, he buys woodsy type plants and shrubs, cuts their roots off short, plants them in a very shallow container and trims their limbs back.  All this is done specifically to keep the plant from growing very much.  This is called, “Bonsai.”

What is Bonsai?  Quote: “A bonsai is a tree or other plants, or a group of trees or plants, cultivated in a container. The meaning of the word is ‘plant in a pot’.”  Someone in China, long ago, started this strange practice, and for thousands of years it has been perfected in Japan and become an art form.  You have to choose the right plant, which has potential to become a great bonsai.  It takes practice to turn this into a skill, and when done right, you end up with a plant becoming an exact replica of nature in miniature!  Strange (and a bit ironic don’t you think?)!  So thousands of years ago, someone decided it wasn’t enough to have nature to look at, and had to figure out how to make tiny examples of nature to look at.  Any who…we now have a bank of huge Juniper trees in our backyard, and Oaks out by the street, and then one miniature “Acer” somethingerother  (I can’t spell the rest), that sits in a shallow pot on the edge of our patio.  It really is a pretty little tree, and Dale has done a good job perfecting a bit of nature in its shallow pot.  This art form takes a great deal of patience, a steady hand and a keen eye…which is why I don’t understand it, and could never do it myself!

As I sit looking at the Acer somethingerother this morning, I realize even humans can be Bonsai!  This practice can be seen as strange and/or wonderful as well.  Thousands of years ago God created man…a little replica of himself here on earth - Wonderful!  He planted Adam in the Garden of Eden, but that is as far as the similarities with Bonsai should go.  Adam was expected to grow and  put down roots!  For thousands of years we humans have practiced some Bonsai techniques on ourselves. Strangely enough, we have become, “small in size, but have the appearance of being seasoned, matured and in certain cases aged.”  We look adult-like and mature in age, yet underneath, our root systems have been kept shallow and stunted.  I wonder just how often we purposely plant ourselves where we won‘t have to grow?  Strange, since the Bible speaks so often about growth and maturity in Christ.  Let me just end with that challenge…Ephesians 3:17...”Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong.”

Be strange and wonderful to the world around you today…be loving and kind and make people wonder what makes you strange!

All quotes are from An Introduction to Bonsai, by the Bonsai Kai of the Japan Society