Matricaria recutita: Chamomile

Matricaria recutita... For the love of Latin names... or Chamomile for the love of clarity!
I learned today that the word chamomile is of Greek roots meaning "earth-apple" so called because of the apple-like scent of the plant... This is just beautiful! Not only because I love etymology but this name could not fit her better!

It comes from the earth in such a sweet gentle way. It can instantly make someone have a brighter day just by her look, so delicate and simple yet so charming and blooming! 

Chamomile is like an elixir of apple scent and not her own! Her fragrance is of an amazing subtlety that one cannot but stand and wonder about the Creator of such beauty! 

(And it is was originally a "wild" flower!)

But it does not stop there... Dried by the heat and air, boiled and poured in a cup, Chamomile, in her tiny tiny body, hold the power to make people relax by a simple sip! It has power to calm the very soul of the sipper! Wow... And I thought drying and being boiled would damage someone beyond repair...

I think the mystery of this life lies there, in knowing how insignificant we are, remembering that from earth we sprouted... To be humble and yet to know how to receive the graces from the Hand of the Most High and to accept His Spirit blown in us... to be His fragrance, His reflectors in the midst of the calamity of this world, to bring His comfort and calmness... To dry and boil gracefully and hence channel miracles we never could do without that pain... To do it in modesty as does the Chamomile!!

It reminded me of a quote for St. Anthony the Great:

I saw the snares that the enemy spreads out over the world and I said groaning, "What can get through from such snares?" Then I heard a voice saying to me, "Humility."

Finally, I would like to thank you Chamomile for beside the lesson on humility you bestowed on me wonderful restful nights!!