Rudyard Kipling wrote a poem – IF – that has been important to me since the age of nineteen when I was admitted to Riverview Hospital. Such encouragement! Almost as good as the Bible. Especially since I hadn’t become a Christian yet.

The lines that stood out for me this morning were these:

If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:

I love the word “stoop” in the last line. It speaks of humility, probably the part of Christ’s character I most love.

I’m going to share two more pictures and you’ll probably never guess. These, too, are tulips, being very expressive.

Be well,
marja