Editor’s Thoughts: “Misunderstood?”
By Ardys Joy Caballero-Gadia, BSN’91
T
he tall cold glass of strawberry juice hid my smirk. My six friends and I were having lunch alfresco
under a Jacaranda tree in full bloom and the brunet former police officer beside me was making
noises about how she couldn’t understand why the purple tree we were sitting under was
blooming in the wrong time of the year. I do not respond knowing that some people like to prattle on
but the more I thought of the Jacaranda tree my friend was poking at, the more I realized how amazing
our God is!
The photo you see in the first page of this issue is that of a Jacaranda Tree with its rich lilac-purple
colored blossoms covering the ground. This tropical beauty with its clusters of fragrant, purple, trumpetshaped blooms make an excellent shade tree. It is drought tolerant and very resistant to pests and
diseases. In many parts of the world its blooming heralds the arrival of spring or the beginning of
autumn.
The City of Pretoria in South Africa is known as Jacaranda City because of its large amount of Jacaranda
trees; because the blooming season of the tree coincides with the year-end exams at the University of
Pretoria, a legend hatched claiming that if a flower of the Jacaranda tree falls on your head you will pass
all your exams! In some parts of Australia (Grafton in New South Wales, a Perth suburb of Applecross at
Western Australia, and in some parts of Sydney and Victoria) they celebrate Jacaranda Festival each year
by having street parades, fairs, and where a Jacaranda Queen and Jacaranda Princess is named at a
formal ball. In Loma Linda we also have Jacaranda trees.
I had stopped smirking as my mind drifted towards the beautiful Jacaranda beside us. Did you know…..?
1. LIKE US, the Jacaranda tree was created beautiful and symmetrical. But often we do things harmful
to our health and life. Lately, have we made the right choices with our lifestyle and habits? Are we
still as beautiful and balanced as when we were created? What is in our power to change?
2. The Jacaranda tree remains connected to their homeland. Whenever spring arrives in Kenya, they
will burst out in full bloom regardless of where they had been planted around the world. You and I
claim that “this world is not our home”, but to which homeland is our heart and mind connected to?
Does our life reflect that of Heaven’s citizens? Or that of the deceiver?
3. Through the ages, the Jacaranda trees ADAPT to their environment but they do not ADOPT. You
will not find a Jacaranda tree bearing an apple or mango, nor will you find one cowering behind a
banana tree or hiding behind palm trees. Instead, each generation they stay
true to their nature blossoming purple flowers, carrying the same scent, and
manifesting the same characteristics Jacaranda trees have for ages. Do we live a
life consistent to what the Creator designed for us? Do we act in kindness and
integrity? Or do we pride ourselves for “outsmarting the system” (Basin mas
maro pa ta or mas taray pa ta than the none-believers? Dili gyud palupig?)
4.
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The Jacaranda tree holds on to every drop of moisture it has in order to