Orange-peel Clematis

In one of the corners of our chapel’s grounds grows an Orange-peel clematis. Orange peel can be a dangerous thing, but then, so can a pretty flower. Today’s consideration is the irony of such an attractive bloom sharing a name with a piece of food waste. We cannot eat the orange’s peel; we discard it as something unprofitable; once peeled, the peel’s purpose is gone, and it doesn’t look very attractive, either.

God often takes our waste and uses it. Spare clothing, if given to a charity, can keep warm the very coldest people. Spare time, if used wisely, can benefit a church or community group. Indeed, God even takes people who have been used, spent and discarded, left on proverbial rubbish tips, and transforms them into purposeful and productive people. God takes no-bodies, and makes them kings and members of a royal priesthood. He takes slaves and makes them nobles. He takes the undervalued, the marginalised, the downcast and the ignored- and gives them a dignity never before seen.

Despite its vulgar name, here is a rather beautiful flower.