The theme for this week in Focus 52 is flowers. How appropriate. My family buried our patriarch this week. I did the family wreaths & the casket spray.
My father-in-law left on his terms, and no one dared to dispute it. Flowers are an amazing thing. They are pretty, they smell good, they cheer us up when we feel down. They are symbols of friendship, love, and remembrance. Four times a year I go to the cemetery where I put together some type of arrangement for each of my two daughters. Each time we gather to remember their birthdays and passing days Louis would sit and watch me work while he visited with my parents, my husband, & his wife. He always loved watching me work, always having something to say about what I was creating. Having the privilege of doing his memorial flowers, in his college colors of course, was something I had not considered until I was faced with it. Creating something for another person allows me to meditate on that person while I work. I think about the person, I visit in spirit with the person, & I try to honor the person, & this time I cried for what we will all miss. When I think of flowers I think of the play Hamlet & the character Ophelia. When she lost her mind and began wondering around "chanting old tunes" it was the flower that she clung to as she passed out twigs and called them by the names of flowers.
The pure & simple beauty of the flower. I remember telling some of my students many years ago that there IS proof that God exists. Look at the flowers: we know from science that they smell good & look vibrant to attract the pollinating insects, but seriously people, this is God we are talking about. God does not work under the limitations of the physical realm. If he wants the bugs to go to the flowers they will, no special attractions are necessary. God just does it that way so we can understand how it all works. The beauty & the scent is a gift to us from God so we can enjoy nature at work. God gave us flowers to make our world more beautiful & to let us know God DOES exist...and we will all be together again one day.
My father-in-law left on his terms, and no one dared to dispute it. Flowers are an amazing thing. They are pretty, they smell good, they cheer us up when we feel down. They are symbols of friendship, love, and remembrance. Four times a year I go to the cemetery where I put together some type of arrangement for each of my two daughters. Each time we gather to remember their birthdays and passing days Louis would sit and watch me work while he visited with my parents, my husband, & his wife. He always loved watching me work, always having something to say about what I was creating. Having the privilege of doing his memorial flowers, in his college colors of course, was something I had not considered until I was faced with it. Creating something for another person allows me to meditate on that person while I work. I think about the person, I visit in spirit with the person, & I try to honor the person, & this time I cried for what we will all miss. When I think of flowers I think of the play Hamlet & the character Ophelia. When she lost her mind and began wondering around "chanting old tunes" it was the flower that she clung to as she passed out twigs and called them by the names of flowers.
The pure & simple beauty of the flower. I remember telling some of my students many years ago that there IS proof that God exists. Look at the flowers: we know from science that they smell good & look vibrant to attract the pollinating insects, but seriously people, this is God we are talking about. God does not work under the limitations of the physical realm. If he wants the bugs to go to the flowers they will, no special attractions are necessary. God just does it that way so we can understand how it all works. The beauty & the scent is a gift to us from God so we can enjoy nature at work. God gave us flowers to make our world more beautiful & to let us know God DOES exist...and we will all be together again one day.
