The following is a transcript of a Raised Catholic podcast episode.

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Today is episode 182: Meditation on a Snapdragon

Hi friends. It’s been sort of a crazy week for me, full of emotional and sometimes contrasting events, so I don’t have a full episode for you, but I would like to offer a short reflection on some of what I experienced as reflected in first, a flower, and then, in a dream, and I hope it’s a blessing to you. 

Our sweet neighbors got married last weekend and they kindly shared some of the wedding flowers with us. Among them was a white snapdragon, and something about how that flower blooms from bottom to top kept kind of drawing me back and asking me to pay attention.

Because that’s how we all bloom, right? We draw water in from our foundations and we learn as we grow, hopefully opening up to new ideas and new grace along the way, and then sharing that beauty with others. This particular snapdragon still had some closed buds toward the top, and I remember looking at it and noticing that it still had room to grow and to bloom and thinking, oh yes, me too.

This week I attended the wake of a college friend’s beloved Mom, Marion. She had lived a good long life, but my friend would have dearly loved several more decades with her mother. Though there was so much blooming in their over fifty years together, in my friend’s heart, it just did not feel complete, and she was right.

This week I visited the lemonade stand of two of my young music students that I’ve taught for a few years. The family is moving, which is so exciting for them, but it did make me a little teary thinking about how hard I try to sow into the lives of my students and hopefully in a lasting way into their foundations, but that so much of their growth and blooming will happen after our time together. I feel lucky that I got to see the first foundational blooms from Quinn and Dylan and to forge a relationship with their wonderful mother, Meghan. And I know I’ll hear much more about their blooming as they go.

This week we also sang at the wedding of a friend that we’ve known for years, and I attended a book club meeting with my group that’s been together well over twenty years. This week, I’ll go to the high school graduation party of my oldest friend’s eldest son, which is just wild. As the time goes by, it is astounding to see new blooms open even in established places.

And this week we said goodbye to our good friend, Bob. Bob was the most joyful, generous, gregarious person, and a huge part of our retreat house community. Along with his wife, Kathy, they have shown us the reality of what a true Christian life looks like in word, faith, prayer and action. Bob is gone too soon, with some of his blooms not yet open, but the beauty of what he gave us will live on in how we will move forward without his bright light in the world. 

This week I had the most vivid dream. I was walking on a dirt path in a desolate place when I came across a man walking with a couple of kids and a few animals. He was holding this big white plastic bag filled with air like a balloon, and it was a bag I immediately recognized. I had written on the bag years before with a little piece of my testimony – something about living through a hard season with God. In the dream, I couldn’t read all of the words, but I did see a reference to ‘six months’ and ‘God’s goodness’. In the dream, I felt how crazy it was that I would meet that balloon again, because I had remembered writing the words and blowing it up with my own air, and then letting it go out into the world with no idea where it would land and then, here it was, keeping this family company on their journey. In the dream, I hoped my testimony was a help to him as he walked through this desolate wasteland, and I shook my head at God’s goodness, because we really never know how our work or prayers or words or kindnesses will land, do we?

A snapdragon is said to represent both grace and, due to its growth in rocky areas, strength. And if you’re listening to this podcast, I bet you have experienced both in your lifetime – the grace that carries us and the rocky places which produce the strength that we did not ask for, but which forms us. And time brings the blooming, from bottom to top, beginning to end.  This week as I reflect, I pray you’ll feel the presence of God as you rest and draw Him in and grow and open just a little bit more as you reach for the light that is always with you. 

Thanks so much for being with me today, friend. If you need me, you can find me on Instagram @kerrycampbellwrites, at Substack at kerrycampbellwrites.substack.com, where I hope you’ll leave a comment on this week’s episode, or on my website at kerrycampbell.org. Thanks so much for rating, reviewing, subscribing and most importantly, sharing this podcast with a friend.  That makes a real difference in growing our community, so thanks. If you would like to support this podcast financially, there are a couple of ways for you to do that in the show notes, along with some resources related to today’s episode, so do check all of that out, but before we go, let’s pray together.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, amen.

Oh God, we are rooted in you. Help us to rest in you as you provide the growth and the blooming, and help our lives to become a witness to your beauty and goodness for others to see. For us and for our dear ones, we pray in the name of Jesus and wrapped in the mantle of our Mother Mary, amen.

Thanks so much for listening today, friend. Go get yourself a snapdragon this week, and I’ll see you next time.

Show Notes

This week I’m offering a short meditation on a snapdragon and how that bottom to top, often unfinished blooming resonates with many of my experiences this week. I pray it’s a blessing to you.

If you’d like to connect with me, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠find me on Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠at my website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, or ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠on Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. If you’d like to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠help support this podcast financially⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, there’s a way to do just that ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠on my page at buymeacoffee.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠! Thanks for sharing, subscribing, rating, and reviewing, as this helps our community to grow.

Thanks as always to my friend, Peter Vaughan-Vail, for providing the beautiful harp music you hear in this and every episode.

Here are some resources to help you dig into this week’s topic on your own:

1. Journal Questions:

What are the things in my life which have yet to unfold and bloom? How can I lean into those things?

In what ways can I leave goodness behind in the lives of those around me?

2. Song: ⁠Snapdragon⁠, by John Danley

In honor and remembrance of my friend, ⁠Bob McMakin