The Absorption Method

Every time my husband gets a haircut, he comes home with flowers.
He has always been a flower sender, but this is different.
A little grocery store bouquet that adds a touch of whimsy to my kitchen.
It is a sweet gesture because it lets me know that he was thinking about me.

Daisies are my favorite flower.
Inevitably, there will be daisies in the little grocery store bouquet.
However, the daisies are usually colored to match the season.
They very rarely have the typical white petals with a yellow center.

The daisies are green for St. Patrick’s Day.
They are pink for Valentine’s Day.
For whatever reason, the daisies in my bouquet are blue.
They are a beautiful shade of teal blue.

My husband came home from his haircut with the bouquet in hand.
After thanking him, I got one of my vases and began the process.
I opened the little packet of some powdery substance that enhances the blooms.
I added water before I placed the flowers in the vase.

I learned a long time ago that the stems of cut flowers should be cut at an angle.
I have no idea if that is true, but I have been doing it for years.
I began to snip the ends of each stem.
I arranged them in the vase.

When I was done, I looked at my hands.
The palms of my hands were teal blue.
I rubbed my hand across the petals, ever so gently.
The color was not coming from there.

The color was coming from the stem itself.
After a short time in the vase, the water that was once clear was now teal blue.
After just a short time.
The teal blue color came off my hands with a little soap but the water remained blue.

I researched the many ways flowers are dyed.
One method in particular seems to be the way my flowers were dyed.
As I look at my bouquet, only the daisies are a different color.
All the other flowers are their original color.

Most likely, the absorption method was used to dye my daisies.
Florists will fill plastic vases with water into which they add food coloring.
Freshly cut stems are placed in the water.
After a few hours of “drinking” the flowers will display different colors.

For deeper hues, the flowers are left in the water overnight.
The shorter the time, the lighter the color.
The longer the time, the deeper the color.
Absorption.

Imagine putting a small drop of food coloring into a glass of water.
The water that was once clean and clear now takes on the color of the dye.
The clean water does not eliminate the dye.
The dye changes the color of the water.

Do not be misled: Bad company corrupts good character. (1 Corinthians 15:33)

Keeping bad company is like a small drop of food coloring in water.
It doesn’t take much time for the clean water to change color.
No time at all.
It doesn’t take much time for each of us to change because of the company we keep.

It happens quickly.
It happens the longer we are around things or people we should not be around.
We are vulnerable, just like the freshly cut flower stems.
The longer we spend at that place or in that company, the more we are affected.

The principles of the absorption method work here.
The longer we are exposed to bad influences, the more ingrained the behavior will be.
We will incorporate that new hue into our daily life until the old us is unrecognizable.
We will have masked what is truly the essence of us with this new color, this new behavior.

Our new behavior and attitude may look flashy; it may get us noticed.
However, it is artificial.
It rubs off after a while.
It stains everything we touch.

I have to change the water in my vase every day.
I run clear water from the spigot and within minutes, the water begins to turn blue.
Even though the other flowers in the vase are not dyed, they are beginning to change.
The white asters are beginning to be tinged with blue.

A yellow flower, whose name escapes me, is now beginning to have a greenish tinge.
Color blending is happening in the vase right before my eyes.
Through no fault of their own, the other flowers are subtly changing color.
They just happen to be immersed in the same blue water.

Absorption.
Immersion.
The process when one thing becomes part of another thing.
The process of something soaking, either literally or figuratively.

We must be very careful what we allow ourselves to absorb.
We must be diligent to surround our children and ourselves with Philippians 4:8 things.

Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things. (Philippians 4:8)

We must be intentional about what we absorb.
We must be selective in what our children absorb.
We must not immerse ourselves in our culture without reservations.
We must be cautious and purposeful, knowing that we will be quickly changed.

I call you with all my heart; answer me, O Lord, and I will obey your decrees. I call out to you; save me and I will keep your statutes. I rise before dawn and cry for help; I have put my hope in your word. My eyes stay open through the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your promises. Hear my voice in accordance with your love; preserve my life, O Lord, according to your laws. Those who devise wicked schemes are near, O Lord, and all your commands are true. Long ago I learned from your statutes that you established them to last forever.
(Psalm 119: 145-152)

Absorb God’s Word.
Be immersed in His statutes.
Meditate on His laws and decrees.
Hear His voice.

Absorb God’s Truth.
It will rub off on those you come in contact with.
That is the best kind of absorption.
Becoming more like Him.