Parents, do you have a pocket full of posies? My wife loves to plant flowers in the Spring. Around Mother’s Day, earlier if possible, she gets excited to add color to her porch and yard. It’s a reminder of life after the Wintery blandness. Yesterday, she brought home her Mother’s Day posies. For some reason I began thinking of the nursery rhyme. “Ring around the rosie, pocket full of posies, ashes, ashes we all fall down.” I remember in nursery school at Kingston Korner, holding hands, singing this, dancing around in a circle and falling down at the end, laughing… getting back up and doing it all again and again. Some insist that this nursery rhyme refers to the Black Plague. WHAT?! You mean this fun song and game is about people dying and we teach it to preschoolers?! I was shocked to hear this explanation (which Snopes denies BTW). The “ring around the rosie” was either the red boils that came up on the skin when people were bitten by fleas from infected rodents that were all over Europe or it referred to the piles of bodies in the street who had coughed up blood and died. The “pocket full of posies” supposedly helped cover the stench of death and some were said to help stop the disease with some medicinal properties. This is the only positive phrase in the whole rhyme. And the “ashes” referred to the bone fires, (i.e. bonfires) used to cremate all those who had died. Or some say “ashes” should be “achoo” for the horrendous sneezing that happens with this disease. “We all fall down” must have seemed about right since about half of Europe’s population died in the mid 1300’s from this plague. Now that we have enjoyed that bit of unpleasantness, where are we going to get any encouragement from this? Well, it is well documented that those who belong to Christ in many plagues had saved many lives physically and spiritually because they went to help the sick and dying while the pagans ran away to save themselves, leaving the sick from their household in the street to die with those already dead. In the current pandemic, I have heard of many Christian doctors and nurses who volunteered to go to New York and other “hotspots” around the world to help people live from this horrible COVID 19 virus! In all this bad news, sickness, and death, Christians are still running toward those who are suffering with a pocket full of posies, because every life is valuable. They are bringing life and hope and pleasantness and healing to this tragic situation. Jesus went toward the lepers, the infirm, the withered, the blind, the suffering, even the dead and valued them as God’s children and brought them love and joy. Most amazing of all, He in all His Holiness, comes toward us with our sin-infected, death-destined lives and He loves us no matter what.
Jesus tells those who belong to him when He sent them out, “Heal the sick who are there and tell them, 'The kingdom of God is near you.'” Luke 10:9 (NIV) Let’s bring posies to the circle during this time. Let’s bring healing and encouragement to someone because that’s what God’s kingdom is like. Those in God’s Kingdom run toward those who are suffering. Some are bringing a pocket full of posies by providing food for those who are food insecure during this time. Some are encouraging those who are isolated and depressed in these stay home orders. Some are organizing car parades of encouragement. A pocket full of posies can whither quickly, but we can get more all day, every day from Jesus and we can keep bringing His love and fresh posies.
Hang in there people! God is with us! I’m praying for you all!
