Signs of the kingdom - in municipal roundabouts

On my six-monthly bus trip to see my neurologist I travelled through a mainly urban landscape. Even Calvin's city has urban amd industrial sprawl and it's not very inspiring. Walking through St Julien I found myself taking pleasure in the small urban municipal gardens that had been planted in what had previously been a drab concreted end of a street.
Looking at the flowers there and on the roundabouts, the care for the urban environment spoke to me of our need to take care together for the places we live in.
The flowers in the bits of municipal gardens I travelled through said something to me about how communities of human beings need to care for one another, it isn't enough to just be individuals living in the same place, we need theatres, gardens, sports halls and squares to bring us together. Human beings are made to be in relationship. Building community is a bit like gardening - you're not quite sure whether the flowers and plants will survive, nurture, water and weeding are constantly needed.
As I looked at the flowers I thought of the biblical story of the woman with her bottle of perfume. The kingdom is about grace, perfume and blossom; about daring to plant gardens in the concrete jungle; to offer something beautiful.