Christmas Cactus

 

 

Looking out the window at the bare trees covered with snow, my eyes came to rest on my Christmas cactus now in full bloom.  I spent a long time just looking at the plant with its bright red flowers and felt a sense of peace.

At a time of year when everything else seems to have gone to sleep until spring, the Christmas cactus responds to the shorter, darker days of winter in a different way.

It doesn't ignore the darker days, but embraces them and finds a way to bring beauty when it is least expected.  Buds appear, and burst into full bloom not on separate stalks, but at the end of the leaves; as if the blossoms were pouring forth from the innermost part of the plant through the leaves.

A reminder, that in the dark and cold of winter, the power of Love continues to move through us, blossoming even in difficult times.