The rose. Did God ever make a more perfect flower? I've loved them ever since I was a child walking along country roadsides in Minnesota and stopping to inhale the wild pink roses that grew so freely.
(Are they still allowed to grow there? Or have they been sprayed out of existence because they were somebody's weed? I do not know the answer.)
So it's logical that from the beginning of our marriage we've had rosebushes. We're centered on a few for now and my husband tends them with loving care. Every now and then he comes in with an armload of gorgeous roses, which are growing in wooden half-barrels on our patio. (Yes, it works just fine.) Many named varieties have come and gone, for one reason or another. This one is a Grandiflora named "Gemini," which we both love. It's beautiful, healthy and reliable. Perfect form, strong stems, shiny leaves. Pleasing fragrance and lovely in all seasons. Long-lasting in a vase.
This would be the perfect rose if ... if it just didn't come equipped with those pesky thorns! Long, spiky thorns that easily pierce through skin. Short, fine thorns you don't even notice, but they embed themselves in finger tips.
Ah, but this Gemini probably is our favorite rose of all the roses we've grown. We've decided its beauty makes up for the nuisance factor. Isn't that a perfect analogy for life?
Long ago I came across a quote that stopped me in my tracks. It still does. Maybe you, too, will find yourself mulling this over for awhile. Sorry, I don't know who said it, but the calligraphy was set up just this way.
We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or
Rejoice
because thorn bushes have roses.
Whatever may be going on in our lives, here's to focusing on our "roses" and overlooking the "thorns."
Lenore
Your comments welcomed!