Saturday, August 12, 2006

The parable of the Rose

A certain man planted a rose and watered it faithfully. Before it
blossomed, he examined it. He saw a bud that would soon blossom.
He also saw the thorns, and he thought, "How can any beautiful
flower come from a plant, burdened with so many sharp thorns?"
Saddened by this thought, he neglected to water the rose, and
before it was ready to bloom, it died.
So it is with many people. Within every soul, there is a rose.
The "God-like" qualities planted in us at birth, growing amidst
the thorns of our faults. Many of us look at ourselves and see
only the thorns, the defects. We despair, thinking nothing good
can possibly come from us. We neglect to water the good within
us, and eventually it dies. We never realize our potential.
Some don't see the rose within themselves. It takes someone else
to show it to them. One of the greatest gifts a person can
possess is to be able to reach past the thorns and find the rose
within others. This is the truest, most innocent, and gracious
characteristic of love - to know another person, including their
faults, recognize the nobility in their soul, and yet still help
another to realize they can overcome their faults. If we show
them the rose, they will conquer the thorns. Only then will they
blossom, and most likely, blooming thirty, sixty, a hundred-fold,
as it is given to them.
Our duty in this world is to help others, by showing them their
roses and not their thorns. It is then that we achieve the love
we should feel for each other. Only then can we bloom in our own
garden.
Author unknown

*very meaningful ah....