Two Roses

Two roses were brought to our room last week, and I found myself puzzled as I watched them slowly change. One rose turned its face out for all to see and opened wider and wider each day. The other closed itself tighter, fell lower, and ceased to bloom altogether. Roses from the same vase…one bloomed, one withered…why? This image kept returning to my mind throughout the week, and I realized that this is a very clear example of our choice as believers. We can choose to let the burden of the pain and suffering in the world rest on our own shoulders, to keep our eyes pointed down toward the mess, to close ourselves to all out of fear that we might be hurt, to forget that we were never meant to carry it all…or we can choose to gaze upward in the midst of whatever life brings, to see our Maker who has the whole world in his hands, to open ourselves up to give and be vulnerable, to reach out our hands to the world, to surrender all the pain to His ever-loving heart, and in doing so…to reflect the most radiant beauty of all: HIS.