Hidden Beauty

It’s dreary outside. More than dreary, it’s a scene of disarray and clutter. That’s what my garden looks like during bad winter freezes. I choose to have several plants in pots scattered throughout that add color and interest, and I’ve planted several non-natives and not-so-cold tolerant plants that must be covered to survive this kind of weather, and it’s not pretty.

Last Spring I converted an old three-tiered fountain into a succulent planter. Considering the

record heat we had, the succulents fared pretty well, thanks to the shade I provided each day when the sun hit full force. For the winter, I transplanted the survivors inside and replaced with pansies and ajuga, which are cold hardy. They’ve thrived, until below freezing temps hit. Even they can’t survive low twenties and teens. Now they are sheltered under a frost cloth tent with Christmas lights for warmth. They look lovely at night with the lights shining through. We’ll see if that actually keeps them from freezing.

I had the idea to hang an insulated curtain across the entryway of my front porch, thinking I could use a heater to create a mini-greenhouse to protect the plants I have there. I ordered a beautiful scenic curtain online that reaches from top to bottom—longer even than Ikea curtains. It wasn’t wide enough to reach all the way across, so I added a curtain panel on each side and cut up another panel to add length. It’s not as insulated as I wanted but it looks pretty nice. Question is: will it do what I intended? Come below freezing temps and slight wind…it helps some, but the wind blew it open where the panels came together, so I had to clip it together, tape the sides to the wall, and weight the bottom down with scrap wood. Air seeps through too many places to use a heater effectively, so, all in all, it didn’t work according to plan. But the scenic trees hanging across my porch look nice.

As the wind blows, I hear my assorted chimes making melody. A not-so-melodious sound breaks through, and I look towards the back patio where the sound is coming from. It’s the glass leaf chimes I recently bought at a thrift store. They’re quite pretty—possibly the prettiest chimes I have—but their sound doesn’t match their beauty. In fact, the most beautiful sounding chimes are the plain black metal pipes. They make “a sweet, sweet sound in my ear”, as the song goes.

Funny how beauty is often hidden beneath surface appearance, and beauty often hides dysfunction. My beautiful garden is hidden behind blankets and covers—it will reemerge in the Spring. My beautiful tree curtain is pretty, but it doesn’t do what I designed it to do. The ugly chimes make a beautiful sound whereas the pretty ones make noise.

I hope I’m like a beautiful hidden garden underneath my humanity, which we all know is flawed. I hope God’s light shines through my frost-cloth exterior, creating light and warmth in the darkness. I want to be more than a pretty curtain. I want to accomplish what God intended me to do. And truly I say: I’m ok with being plain black pipe chimes instead of beautiful glass leaf chimes—if only my sound is a sweet, sweet sound in His ear.