By Kevin de L’Aigle
From our back porch, we are blessed to see Resurrection ferns climbing up the mighty trunks of live oaks, cypresses and magnolias. They get their name from their “resurrection response.”
In dry weather, the native fern curls up brown to keep from losing moisture. Within less than an hour of rain, the fronds open up and turn vivid green.
Non parasitic resurrection ferns do not rob trees of nutrients or water. They are harmless to the trees and simply use the branches as support structures. The ferns are epiphytes, or “air plants,” and obtain moisture and nutrients from rain, dust and debris in the air rather than through the tree.
We see that they can also be found on brick walls or pavements, so we know that they are using these as anchors only. They take their sustenance from the air we all breathe without sucking energy from the host.
Because of their unique attributes, resurrection ferns were taken to space along with the space shuttle Discovery in 1997 to better understand nature from the perspective of space. The resurrection fern proved to be a fit space traveler, successfully “resurrecting” without gravity.
According to early accounts, European settlers and indigenous people of the Florida Seminole and Miccosukee tribes made a root mixture of the resurrection ferns to use in baths to treat mental health issues. The humble resurrection fern reminds us that renewal is possible, when life turns challenging, when we feel unanchored, lacking in grounding, nourishment or gravity. By simply taking in a deep breath of the precious air we have been given, we become “Resurrection people.”
In John 3:8, Christ tells the Pharisee Nicodemus, “The wind blows where it wills,” or one cannot control or understand the source of the wind. The Holy Spirit works as freely and unpredictably as the wind to create spiritual rebirth in us.
However, it grieves my soul that so many religious settings have been sites of humiliation and shame for people, especially children. I mourn that a place that taught a little child that they could go to college and succeed is the same place that tells them they are going to suffer and burn for who they love or who they marry.
I grieve the private and public humiliations suffered by those whose truths and identities are dismissed from the pulpit. I grieve with those whose humanity, calling, or salvation is scrutinized by way of selective scriptural literalism. We can relate to the fern curling up, turning brown, and feeling like our life is over.
As Resurrection people, we look past the time when life seems all but lost toward the grace of Holy Week. In all of his teachings, Christ lifted up the actions of love, justice, grace, humility, mercy, and compassion. He condemned violence, hard-heartedness, shame and social injustice.
We only have to consider the Easter grace of the Resurrection fern. As Apostle Paul, who once persecuted others then saw the light, says, “to make every effort to preserve the Unity of the Spirit in a bond of peace.” (Eph. 4:3).
May the Spirit fill you with grace and the new life of resurrection this Easter season!
Kevin de l’Aigle is a local hospitality executive and certified yoga teacher. He sings in the choir at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church and enjoys life in downtown Beaufort with his family and three rescue dogs.