Melds’ Prayer Plant
by Oliver Carlos
Mildred “Melds” Ocampo-Moscoso is a former colleague at the UPLB College of Development Communication some 20 years back. We used to work together in the cable TV show LB Talk. She’s the host and I’m the news director.
Last Christmas season, my wife and I visited Melds at her home in UPLB Forestry. It’s been a long time since we have seen each other in person. When we arrived at her house which was in the outskirts of the Mt. Makiling forest, the first thing she did was to show us her prayer plant at her front yard.
Melds’ prayer plant comes in a bundle. The leaves were big and elongated. The tops were green, while the bottom surface of the leaves was purple. The height of the plant was a bit taller than me, probably six feet tall. The tropical rainforest is their natural habitat. That plant just sprouted there.
I asked Melds why the plant is named such. She said it’s because they are always lifting their hands up in prayer. Yes indeed. The leaves look like hands lifted to the sky as if praying to God above.
Days later, I told my Mom about the prayer plant. My Mom, Dr. Evangeline T. Castillo, is a better plant expert than me, my wife and Melds combined. She has a PhD in that field and she’s also acclaimed as one of the top 20 women scientists in the country. She brought me to her garden at her house’s backyard and showed me her own collection of prayer plants. I was surprised to see around a dozen different varieties of the prayer plant!
Actually, prayer plants come in different shapes, sizes, colors and leaf designs. Unlike Melds’ prayer plant which naturally grew in her yard, my Mom’s collection was in small pots, their height ranging from 3 to 6 inches. But the common thing is that they all have their leaves positioned like human arms lifted to the sky in prayer. My Mom added that prayer plants fold their leaves at night like clasped hands in prayer.
It’s so fascinating to think that such a plant exists. My admiration for its Creator has grown a notch higher anew. God must have designed the prayer plant for a purpose. I think that purpose is for us to learn a thing or two about prayer.
First, we must always, always pray. Melds see her prayer plant as “always having hands lifted to heaven in prayer.” My Mom says her prayer plants clasp their leaves like praying hands in the evening. This teaches us to pray at all times- in the morning, in the evening, and anytime we can. God wants us to be in constant conversation with him. We have a personal relationship with him that we need to cultivate. How do you cultivate relationships? By frequent communication.
We talk to God when we are happy, when we are sad, or in moments when we are confused or we have mixed emotions. We pray when we have problems, when we have something to celebrate about, and even when there’s no occasion. You talk to your friend in all these different kinds of situations, right? That’s how and when you talk to God, he’s our ultimate best friend.
Second, we see that prayer plants are of various shapes, sizes, and color. Same with us people. We humans come in different skin color, height, weight, built, language, and culture. God wants to see a diversity of worshippers and prayer warriors lifting their hands to him. It will really warm his heart to see an ocean of people whom he redeemed fellowshipping with him for eternity.
We see this exactly in 1 Timothy 2:8 (TLB):
“So I want men (and women) everywhere to pray with holy hands lifted up to God, free from sin and anger and resentment.”
When we have repented from our sins and have accepted Jesus as our Savior, we now belong to God, a personal relationship with him has been established. Let us cultivate that relationship by being in constant communication with him. If prayer plants pray, how much more should we?
