Recently, we had a small pot of Calla Lilies sitting in our kitchen window sill. I loved watching the blooms open, each tinted uniquely in ivory blushed with a bit of rose. I like these little flowers as well as their showier Christmastime companions, poinsettias,

As I packed away so many of the symbols of Christmas with decorations and trees, I was glad to keep plants like these, watering them, watching them grow, and enjoying their  symbolism and stories.  The brilliant red poinsettia has its story – called the “flower of the holy night,” standing for a little girl who wept on her way to church on Christmas Eve because she had no gift to bring. As she knelt on the ground to pray, she saw this lovely plant and gladly took its red beauty into the church as her Christmas gift to the Christ child.

But the calla lily plays a role in the Christian Easter service as a symbol of Jesus’ resurrection. In many paintings and other works of art throughout history, it has also been depicted with the Virgin Mary or Angel of Annunciation, associated with holiness, faith and purity.

I am thankful for little altars in our home where a flower or a rock or a bit of glass is something I can see and touch, reminding me of the sacred in all our ordinary days.