We had just moved into our new condo in San Francisco. I was sorting through the unwanted items the previous owner had left behind under the deck, it was dark, murky and damp. Some of the boxes, rusty rakes and clay pots might be useful, the rest would need to be thrown out.

I lifted a box and was surprised when the most beautiful fragrance emerged. The lovely fragrance come from a clay pot. I took it out from under the deck and into the light so I could get a a better look at it.

The pot contained a hyacinth. It was pale (colorless, like white asparagus) and since it was not able to grow upward, it had wrapped itself around the perimeter of the pot that contained it.

Although formed by the limits of the pot that held it, the darkness and the confinement could not suppress its truth.

I placed the pot in a sunny spot on my deck and within a day, it was transformed. It stood straight, reaching for the sun and it turned a beautiful lavender color. Freed from its darkness and confinement, it could become the lovely flower it was created to be.

This illustrates the power of the Gospel. God created you in God’s image, planted in you a seed of beauty and truth. This is your true self. But, like my hyacinth, your true self has been distorted and hidden by sin.

Jesus’ life, death and resurrection addresses the sin that binds you and deforms you. We’ll talk about sin in my next post.