Hi Friend,
I remember it all started several years ago when a friend brought me some flowers as a thank you for some deed which I have now long forgotten. They were such a lovely simple bouquet of all the same flowers and they lasted and lasted on my coffee table for well over a week. Every single time I looked at them, they were so unapologetically beautiful and unexpected that they brought me joy.
I had never been a big fan of flower bouquets before. I realize that seems like an absurd statement, but they had always seemed indulgent, a wasteful expense for something just destined to wilt and decay. Of course, I had my share of bouquets from time to time and thought they were pretty, beautiful even. However, I could never get over what I deemed the ephemeral silliness of their beauty, and well, spending money on something destined to be composted. I had fallen for the trap of thinking that because something was temporary, it, therefore, didn’t have value.
Once my thank you bouquet was gone, I happened to spy some flowers on my weekly grocery store trip. I took a second look at them and they still seemed to speak to me, so I decided to indulge in another round. I am probably lucky they were an exceptionally priced bunch or my practical nature may never have overcome that pivotal moment. I am so grateful I allowed myself a second glance because every week thereafter I have had fresh flowers in my home.
I cannot fully describe the joy it gives me to see flowers, currently a bouquet on my dining table and kitchen island, in my home as they move through their stages each week. They go from buds, to open blooms, to spent blossoms, and I delight in them all, yes even the spent ones. The types of flowers and colors I have bought change from year to year and season to season, but the blooms are there, the colors ring out, and the life they give are consistent. Yes, they still die every week, but that in no way takes away from what they offer. They minister to my soul on the importance of beauty and joy for its own, and yes temporary, sake.
As Jesus said, “Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, but I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these.” Luke 12:27. Sometimes it is the simplest and most beautiful things that remind us we are loved completely.
Giselle Crout Salt+Clay Contributor
