A number of plants are named for the Bethlehem manger, imagining Joseph collecting grasses and plants that were dried to place in the Holy Child's crib. Pennyroyal, Rue, Thyme, Lavender and Rosemary are called the manger herbs. Dandelion is another of those plants — once called Mary's Bitter Sorrow.
Dandelions are often thought of as a weed — a plant that grows where we don't want it to grow. But all the plants spring from God's imagination, and so we might more kindly refer to dandelion as simply a native plant. Americans spend huge amounts of money on chemicals to destroy dandelions. Mind you, those chemicals poison the food some birds (like robins) eat. Lawn chemicals also eventually find their way into streams, ponds, lakes and aquifers. Not good.
Dandelions are often thought of as a weed — a plant that grows where we don't want it to grow. But all the plants spring from God's imagination, and so we might more kindly refer to dandelion as simply a native plant. Americans spend huge amounts of money on chemicals to destroy dandelions. Mind you, those chemicals poison the food some birds (like robins) eat. Lawn chemicals also eventually find their way into streams, ponds, lakes and aquifers. Not good.
Maybe dandelion was called Mary's Bitter Sorrow because its leaves taste bitter. In our time, the word bitter has a negative connotation. A bitter person is angry or resentful. We might say, "The terrible divorce left her bitter." But bitter sorrow can mean a suffering that's brought about by a deep personal hurt. What did Mary know about her Child's future? Did she already carry a prescient sorrow or hurt?
Lots of mothers carry sorrows. Perhaps pondering the roadside dandelion - Mary's Bitter Sorrow - we might pray. "Examine me, Lord, and try me; O test my heart and my mind..." Psalm 26:2. When God looks into my heart and mind, I want him to see that it cares for more than just myself.
The bitter sorrow of women
who miscarry,
whose child is stillborn.
The mother who gives birth to her child
while she is fleeing war, famine or disaster.
The mother who is alone, abandoned,
even by the child's father.
The mother who is overwhelmed with poverty,
who is forced to give a child away.
The mother who fears for her child's safety in a gun-soaked nation,
who hopes for her children to be spared addiction and violence,
who sorrows after an abortion,
who is separated from her children,
whose child is handicapped, weak, failing or chronically sick.
The bitter sorrow of women
who miscarry,
whose child is stillborn.
The mother who gives birth to her child
while she is fleeing war, famine or disaster.
The mother who is alone, abandoned,
even by the child's father.
The mother who is overwhelmed with poverty,
who is forced to give a child away.
The mother who fears for her child's safety in a gun-soaked nation,
who hopes for her children to be spared addiction and violence,
who sorrows after an abortion,
who is separated from her children,
whose child is handicapped, weak, failing or chronically sick.
