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	November 2002
		Kenny's Catch... If St Paul had been a Dutchman... by Charles Kenny
			A recent visit to see the beautiful Van Diemen's tulip farm at Table Cape prompted me to read about the history of the tulip bulb industry. Tulips were unknown in Europe until 1563. In the northern autumn of 1562 an Antwerp merchant was unpacking a consignment of cloth which had recently arrived from Turkey. In amongst the bales of cloth he found a small brown package, which he assumed must have been gift from the fabric supplier. On opening the package he found it contained some strange-looking smallish onions. Some he planted in his vegetable garden next to his cabbages in the hope of producing a crop next year. The rest he roasted and seasoned with oil and vinegar and then ate for his supper. Next spring to his amazement, the onions in the garden bloomed as, yes, you will have guesses, tulips. These are believed to be the first to flower in Europe, in the spring of 1563. Hidden mystery If St Paul had been a Dutchman living in the 17th Century, searching for an appropriate image for the all surpassing mystery of the Resurrection, he might well have said in 1 Corinthians 15 that when a bulb is placed in the ground and buried, it to all intents and purposes disappears from view and dies. But that is not the end of the story because through the hidden mystery and creative action of God it finally becomes a beautiful vibrant richly coloured flower dancing in the breeze. Brown paper package To many, and perhaps not surprisingly so, the churches and their members look a rather dry and unlikely lot to bring new life to the world. But sometimes like the merchant in Holland we need to look beyond the package and back to the real essence of Christianity. The old brown paper package has within it real hope of new life for the world. It was the Resurrection Faith which gave Desmond Tutu, Nelson Mandela and other Christians hope in the dark days of apartheid in South Africa. The wonderful contrasting colours of the rows of tulips at Table Cape, Wynyard, give a sign year by year of the harmony God would have for all people in his world. May the story of the first tulips in Antwerp give us hope that our efforts and prayers for peace and justice in the world are not in vain. I am indebted to Peter Carnley for the above story of the tulip bulb. It can be found in a different context in his book The Yellow Wallpaper and other Sermons published in 2001.