A Rose is a Rose

I have been spending a lot of time wandering and wondering.  Now that I am back in Thailand I am trying to decided what kind of person I want to be in the next chapter of my life. During my course of wandering I found this wonderful parable, by Ralph Gardiner that has given me much thought the last few days. 

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 possible 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.

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.  

It is so true, sometimes all I see are my thorns.  I want to take a moment to express my gratitude to those people in my life that have helped me to see the "rose within".  By knowing what others see in me I am able to "conquer my thorns".

May I too remember to show others their "roses within" and so that we may all bloom were we are planted - where ever that might be.  For me it is currently in Thailand, away from family and friends and yet the garden here is just as beautiful, and it too is blossoming like a rose.