This is the day, which the LORD hath made;
we will rejoice and be glad in it.
Every sunrise is a present,
A gift from God above,
Gift-wrapped with scarlet ribbons,
Tied with bows of love
Each day's a new beginning,
A time to start anew,
While all the stars are sleeping,
The rose is fresh with dew.
Each day's a new creation,
Too lovely to ignore,
We may find a blessing,
Just outside our door.
We cannot keep the past,
Like fireflies in a jar;
Nor journey to the future,
By wishing on a star.
Every sunrise is a blessing,
A gift for just today,
Rejoice my friend,
Embrace it before it fades away!
(Author unknown)
Roses!
What does a rose mean to us – to me – to you? What do we associate with roses? Love? Secrecy? The color red? Romance? Thorns? Appreciation? Valentine's Day? Religion? God?
For some of us the rose probably means all of it – for some of us the rose symbolizes some of it.
I asked my son if he had some inspirational ideas of roses and he immediately came back with: “That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” He did not remember where he had it from and it is of course from Shakespeare's “Romeo and Juliet”. So for sure a romantic thought.
Like Nicolas most of us think of love and romance in connection with roses and the rose IS a symbol of love, but it is also a symbol of secrecy, silence or privacy. The name comes from the Latin Rosa and the Greek rhodon. Cloris, goddess of flowers, crowned the rose as queen of the flowers. Aphrodite presented a rose to her son Eros, god of love. The rose became a symbol of love and desire. Eros gave the rose to Harpocrates, the god of silence, to induce him not to gossip about his mother's amorous indiscretions. So the rose also became the emblem of silence and secrecy. In the middle ages a rose was suspended from the ceiling of a council chamber, pledging all present to secrecy, or sub rosa, “under the rose”.
There are many stories about the rose. A Christian myth has Eve kissing a white rose and the flower blushed with color – giving it a pink glow. According to Bishop Basil, writing in the 4 th century, the rose only carried thorns after Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden. Funny enough, as the rose became one of the flowers of the Virgin Mary, it became associated with Christian charity. In Catholic litanies, the Virgin Mary is called “Rosa Mystica” and in many hymns she is portrayed as “the rose without thorns”.
In our lives there are no roses without thorns. Mary is without sin – the symbol of goodness and has no thorns. The only roses that have no thorns are the ones coming from the florist and that's only because the thorns were removed before making the bouquet.
We are God's roses.
If we are to reach our full beauty, we must be fed regularly with good food. Nutrition ranks at the top in growing good plants. And so it is with the believer. The believer must be fed regularly with spiritual food.
Where do we find our spiritual food: In the Bible - read the Bible daily for spiritual growth.
Prayer – in prayer we ask for food for the soul through talks with God.
In rose growing there is a need for pruning. The unproductive growth must be taken away so the healthy parts can replace it. This is just a way to help nature perform at its best.
It is the same with the human ways. God uses his “rose” shears to cut away our wrong practices - or actions – or deeds in order to get rid of them and make room for healthy and positive actions.
Yes, we must prune the bushes when necessary, and we must say no when temptation is at our door.
There are many other components in successful rose growing and I could go on and on, but I will just mention two more: sunlight and water. Without these, successful rose growing would not happen.
It is the same with the believer. We need the light of God's word to be a part of our daily lives.
Be prepared to give your rose garden the light of sun and be ready to give your soul the brilliance of God's inspired word. And then, water your roses often when rain is not in the forecast and don't forget to moisten your countenance with the scriptures -- the water of life. And should we be tempted to brag about our rose growing expertise, remember this: only God can grow a rose. For as the Apostle Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 3:6 -- "I planted the seeds, Apollos watered them, but God made them sprout and grow".
Did I forget love - or the thorns? NO
Love's importance is expressed in the first and greatest commandment -- to love the Lord, thy God with all thy heart and soul and thy neighbor as thyself (Matthew 22:37 – 39)
Love as in 1 Corinthians 13:4 – 8 and 13:
4. Love is very patient and kind, never jealous or envious, never boastful or proud, 5. never haughty or selfish or rude. Love does not demand it's own way. It is not irritable or touchy. It does not hold grudges and will hardly even notice when others do it wrong. 6. It is never glad about injustice, but rejoices whenever truth wins out. 7. If you love someone you will be loyal to him no matter what the cost. You will always believe in him, always expect the best of him, and always stand your ground in defending him. 8. All the special gifts and powers from God will one day come to an end, but love goes on forever.
13. For now there is faith, hope and love. But of these three, the greatest is love.
God “prunes” with love – just as you prune your rosebush out of love. But remember He loves us just as we are – thorns and all – loves us so much that He finds us worthy of “pruning” – loves us so much that he let His son die for us.
Fine roses come from the thorns in life-
The trials, heartaches and pain,
As God develops a beauty within us,
Working all for our spiritual gain.
Oh, how we desire that the prickly thorns
Be removed out of our life,
But we'd desire it less if we knew God's best
Comes from that trouble and strife.
Paul prayed his thorn would be removed-
Three times he sought God's hand;
His plea was denied and Paul relied
On the Master's perfect plan.
Oh, how we bargain and beg the Father
To remove our painful thorn,
But we'd desire it less if we knew God's best
And could see the roses form.
As He molds and develops us in His Kingdom,
Such talents and gifts He adorns;
Yet, never has there been a beautiful rosebush
Without the piercing thorns;
Those stakes in our heart we feel unbearable ,
And everything in us opposes,
Are the very tools our designer uses...
To develop Such Beautiful Roses.
(Author unknown)
The pessimist looks at his rose garden and sees the weeds growing. He looks at the clouds and despairs that it's going to rain. Two people can live in the same world with the same set of circumstances: for one it can be exciting, joyous and hopeful. For another, it's a sorrowful, limiting and painful one. Each can view a rose.
One sees a rose with thorns.
The other sees that the thorns have roses.
So, don't grieve that your roses have thorns. Rejoice instead that your thorns have roses!
AMEN!
Anne Jorgensen
February 1, 2004