St. Augustine, in a sermon for the feast of St. Lawrence, says you don’t have to be a martyr to follow Jesus Christ. You can be who you are, where you are, by following him in his humanity. Like the many flowers and plants in a garden, we all have a place.

“The garden of the Lord includes – yes, it truly includes – not only the roses of martyrs but also the lilies of virgins, and the ivy of married people, and the violets of widows. There is absolutely no kind of human beings who need to despair of their call; Christ suffered for all. It was very truly written about him: who wishes all  to be saved, and to come to the acknowledgement of the truth.

  So let us understand how Christians ought to follow Christ, short of the shedding of blood, short of the danger of suffering death. The Apostle says, speaking of the Lord Christ, Who, though he was in the form of God, did not think it robbery to be equal to God. What incomparable greatness! But he emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, and being made in the likeness of men, and found in condition as a man. What unequalled humility! (Augustine, On the Feast of St.Lawrence)”

Following Augustine, I notice in our garden these days some little plants and flowers I don’t know. There they are springing up unannounced and unnoticed. I don’t know their names or what they’re good for, but they bring their own beauty and completeness to our garden.

So let’s honor the humble flowers and plants in our garden. Not crabgrass, though. I don’t think it’s humble.