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| Parable of the Rose |
It is not recorded in scripture. . . Christ never uttered it as such.
but it is evidenced by every word He spoke, in every deed He
performed.
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 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
able to bloom it died.
So it is with many people. Within every soul there is a rose. . . the
Godlike qualities planted in us at birth, growing amid the thorns of
our faults. Many of us look at ourselves and see only the thorns. . . the
defect. We despair, thinking that nothing good can possibly come from
us. We neglect to water the good within us, and eventually it dies.
We never reach our potential.
Some people do not see the rose within themselves; someone must show
it to them. One of the Savior's greatest characteristics was that he was
able to show people the Kingdom of Heaven within them. He was able to
reach past their thorns and show them the rose.
This is the characteristic of love. . . to look at a person, and
knowing his faults, recognize the nobility of 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, bringing forth thirty,
forty, sixty, or a hundred fold as it is given to him.
Our duty in this world is to help our brothers and sisters by showing
them their roses and not their thorns. Only then can we achieve the
love the Savior wants us to feel for each other; only then can we
become perfect as He wants us to be and blossom in the garden of His Father.
-- Ralph Gardiner |
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