Consider the lilies...

I have been awarded a 'Thinking Blogger Award' by one of my regular readers, Cherie.
I'm not yet sure what this means, although I think I am meant to find five other bloggers to whom I should give the award. Sounds a bit like pyramid selling, doesn't it? so in no time at all every blogger should get one. However, I am happy to get mine before they become ubiquitous. (Great word that isn't it?)
It just means it is something pops up everywhere... like weeds, in fact.
The picture above is from my wonderful garden -which is full of plants that promise me they will look after themselves. Other people call them weeds - but a weed is just a plant growing where you don't want it to grow. And, since I have decided I want these plants just where they are ... they are no longer weeds - they are self-seeding flowers, which require minimal (i.e. NO) maintenance.
When Jesus talked about "considering the lilies" I am pretty sure he didn't mean those giant white flowers that are often associated with Easter: he meant common, wild flowers of the field. And he meant us to do what I did here and get down on our knees and take a close look. You see, when you look closely at what some people still call a weed, you can see they are really spectacularly beautiful flowers. Not showy or self-conscious, so that you notice them from far off, but understated and modest, requiring you to stop and look closely.
[you will need to click on the photo to zoom in closely]
I know lots of people like that too. Actually, they are the best kind of people to get to know. There is so much more to them than what appears on the surface, but you have to look closely. They never try to draw attention to themselves, because they know that they can't compete with the show-offs that have carefully cultivated their public image. They are just content to be what they are and tuck themselves into a quiet corner of the world's garden.
I visited one such person a couple of days ago - she is 98 years old and she can remember the outbreak of World War One, and exactly what she was doing the moment war was declared! Amazing.
Now, back to that Thinking Blogger award...
First of all, I have to give Thinking Blogger Awards to five blogs which get me thinking. I'm not sure if I am allowed to nominate those who have already received the award from someone else, but I'm going to do it anyway.
So. here's my five:
1. Steve Tilley always thought-provoking, often very witty, but never dull. 'Mustard Seed Shavings' is one of the first blogs I ever read.
2. Kerron Cross (The Voice of the Delectable Left) well-known among political bloggers and the guy who got me writing a blog in the first place - not that he actually suggested I should- but reading his blog, which gives all sorts of sideways-looks at life in the Westminster Parliament, got me wondering if I might have something to share with other people from my ordinary life-experiences.
3. Emma (Onwards and Sideways) doesn't blog often enough as far as I'm concerned, but I am always interested in what she has to say because she has just moved to Canada and is putting her skills in linguistics to good use with Wycliffe Bible Translators.
4. Liz (Journalling) has chosen a very unimaginative title for her blog, but that is only to conceal the fact that she shows lots of creative imagination in her writing and photographs. She always has something interesting to share. This is a blog definitely worth visiting.
5. Stuart (Retired Cheeky Wee Monkey) is a case of 'now for something completely different.' Always funny, often very perceptive, occasionally asking really searching philosophical questions like "What if penguins had knees? Would they look really stupid?"
Probably you need to have been brought up in central Scotland in the 60's to appreciate everything he writes - but he will certainly cheer you up.
Now I'm supposed to list the Participation Rules. Here goes:
1. If, and only if, you get tagged [which means your blog has been named on one of these lists of 5], write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think.
2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme.
3. Optional: Proudly display the 'Thinking Blogger Award' with a link to the post that you wrote (silver or gold version).