SPIRITUAL MUSINGS

The Rose Within

A certain man planted a rose and watered it faithfully, and before it blossomed, he examined it. He saw the bud that would soon blossom and also 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 grow amid the thorns of our faults. Many of us look at ourselves and see only the thorns, the defects. We despair, thinking that nothing good can possibly come from us. We neglect to nuture the good within us, and eventually it dies. We never realize our potential.

Some people do not see the rose within themselves; someone else must 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 characteristic of love: to look at a person, and, knowing his faults, recognize the nobility in his soul and help him to realize that he can overcome his faults. If we show him the rose, he will conquer the thorns. Then will he blossom, blooming forth thirty-, sixty-, a hundred-fold as it is given to him.

Our duty in this world is to help others by showing them their roses, not their thorns. Only then can we achieve the love we should feel for each other; only then can we bloom in our own garden.

Attitude
(author unknown)

There once was a woman who woke up one morning,
looked in the mirror,
and noticed she had only three strands of hair on her head.
She said, "I think I'll braid my hair today."
So she did
and she had a wonderful day.
The next day she woke up,
looked in the mirror
and saw that she had only two strands of hair on her head.
"H-M-M," she mused,
"I think I'll part my hair down the middle today."
So she did
and she had a grand day.
The next day she woke up,
looked in the mirror and noticed that she had only one strand of hair on her head.
"Well," she said,
"today I'm going to wear my hair in a pony tail."
So she did
and she had a fun-filled day.
The next day she woke up,
looked in the mirror and noticed that there wasn't a single hair on her head
"YEA!" she exclaimed,
"I don't have to fix my hair today!"
Attitude is everything.
Be kinder than necessary,
for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.
Live simply,
Love generously,
Care deeply,
Speak kindly,
and
Leave the rest to God

Click for: Page 7 / Page 9