The blooms of summer are lovely, but the loveliest blooms in life are the ones that never fade. My daughter in law, Elicia, lost her grandmother a week ago. She passed away in her late eighties, after leading a full and active life. Elicia spoke highly of her grandmother and paid her this tribute: “My Noni was a beautiful soul. Everyone who knew her, loved her.” I can’t imagine a better remembrance than this one; in only two lines, it speaks volumes about this particular woman.
There is a quote that I love by the thirteenth century Persian poet, Rumi: “Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder. Help someone’s soul heal. Walk out of your house like a shepherd.” This is such a beautiful thought. How wonderful to go out of the house each day as a shepherd caring for all the hurting sheep of this world. Love is a language that we all understand; Rumi’s quotes resonate with us in the Western world for that reason. And that is the beauty of poetry…it speaks to us from our own frame of reference, in any time or place.
I love summer. I love the warm weather. I like working in the garden and seeing each new flower blossom. On a sad note, the blooms do not last long; some only last a single day. In contrast, the ‘blooms’ we share in terms of our relationships with others are an altogether different thing; these blooms of love and compassion that we cultivate in our lives are lasting, and the memory thereof exceeds our lifespan.
The times are hard, and people are tired of this pandemic. In the midst of summer, this virus seems all the more cruel. Summer is the season of beautiful blooms and carefree moments. Still, in these hours and days in the summer of 2020, we must care for the garden of our very souls, and focus on the bouquet of blessings we can offer to the world.
We must imagine ourselves as the instruments of love that Rumi writes so eloquently about…we must be that lamp, lifeboat, or ladder for someone else. We do not have to look very far; our lives are full of people who look to us for support and friendship. In 1 Peter 2:9-10 (MSG version) we read that we are to be instruments for God: “But you are the ones chosen by God, chosen for the high calling of priestly work, chosen to be a Holy people, God’s instruments to do His work and speak out for Him, to tell others of the night and day difference He made for you – from nothing to something – from rejected to accepted.”
The summer blooms are all so very lovely. I am captivated by the red roses, the Oriental lilies, the hydrangeas, and all the rest. There really is nothing quite like a garden, especially in summer. But as I water, and weed, and pick a bloom now and then, I am reminded of the forever blooms, the ones that do not ever really leave us.
I remember the words of scripture: “But now these three remain, faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.”: 1 Corinthians 13:13. This is the ladder we build each day…a ladder that leads to heaven, on a staircase of love. This is the lifeboat we offer in the sea of life…no matter how rough, we reach out our hands to help. We go out as shepherds, looking to find the lost and the lonely, the ones who have been left behind.
One of the best things about gardening is the surprises that come your way. You plant one thing and it does not go so well. You plant another thing, and you get a bumper crop. You just can never tell for sure which seeds will sprout and which will not; you keep planting anyway. The surprises you encounter are delightful, even though there are some disappointments.
And so it is with life; we give it our best, and hope things go well in the garden we cultivate with love, and a goodly measure of patience. Who knows? When we look back at the summer of 2020, there might be some amazing things we never expected to find…things like perseverance, and even joy.
In the summer of 2020, there in the cracks of pain and heartache, we will find the most exquisite roses. These roses will bloom, thorns and all, the beautiful souls who lifted one another up, and praised their God in the midst of a great pandemic. The petals of love never fail us; the One true rose stands forever. This One does not fade away. This is the One we carry in our hearts as we go out into the world; this is the One who teaches us to be shepherds, and to care for His sheep.
“Only one life will soon be past; only what’s done for Christ will last.” Charles Studd
Stunning, Linda. And when a lovely one passes away, the aroma of their life remains. God’s grip – Alan
🙂 🙂 🙂 In our hearts our loved ones are always with us. My father passed away almost thirty years ago. I think of him every day and remember all the wonderful times we shared. It is a great comfort to me.
I had an great aunt like her noni, everyone simply adored her!
These are stunning shots of your garden Linda, even got a relative of mine there 🙂 Please post more photos as you have a real talent 🙂
I did get a bit carried away with the pictures! Too much fun! But then, why not have some fun? I am glad you had an aunt like that…so special.
super special, people loved her so much and she was a such crucial part of so many lives … many had to ask her name when she died as she was only known as “Aunty” … sure we all have plenty of other aunts but their name was double barrelled with the title.
I totally enjoyed your pics, more please 🙂
Thank you Kate! Thank you for sharing this wonderful family treasure…your ‘Aunty”. These special people do live forever in our hearts. What a blessing they are to so many.
Your garden is certainly thriving! What a delight it must be to awaken to it every morning.
We have had some very hot weather! Last night we had a big thunderstorm and a lot of rain. We do need the rain. This year, the lilies were really special. It does make me happy to see the plants thriving. We have an orange tree that is very happy and a banana tree as well. The super hot days seem to be magic for those trees! 🙂
Flowers and fruit trees–what an abundance! We’ve gotten some much-needed rain as well. For a while, earlier in the summer, we were in drought conditions.
Everyone loves to see the sun, but we do need the rain! We especially need it in these dog days of summer! 🙂
We had a good soaking rain last night. It was quite pleasant to listen to, in addition to replenishing all of our greenery.
There is nothing quite like rainfall, is there? It is one of the most beautiful sounds in the world. I like to sit on the porch and listen to the rain. It is magical.
It is indeed.
🙂 🙂 🙂
Thank you so much for this post, Linda! Your words are both truthful and reassuring, and exactly what I needed to hear today. With God, all things are possible….
Yes, with God all things are possible! Wishing you blessings Ann! When things in this world seem a bit overwhelming, we must find our rest in the One who loves us best, our Heavenly Father.
Flowers can elicit such emotional responses from people. Is it the fragrance? The color? The shape of the petals? It’s the memories surrounding all of those.
I believe it is all of that and more. You are so right…flowers remind us of many things. We see God’s creative touch everywhere in the garden. Each flower is unique. Like so many places, a garden can be a cathedral, a place to pray, and thank God for His blessings.
My wedding bouquet had 2 gardenias surrounded by red roses. The gardenias were for my grandmas because gardenias were the favorite of one of them & the 1st flower that my other grandpa bought for my grandma.
How wonderful that your bouquet comprised your grandmothers’ favorite flowers! We had a gardenia bush in our back yard that I absolutely loved. We lost it to a winter storm a few years back. I have missed it. Your grandmothers were wise…gardenias are the most enchanting flowers.
I’m glad for
the many photos, Linda! If each one bears a message of hope, faith and love, what a lot each bloom has to say to our hearts!
That is a beautiful thought. You do think up the most wonderful things! I will think of that when I am in the garden…each and every bloom, a message of hope, faith, and love.
Beautiful flowers and good Rumi quote, tho you can’t go wrong with Rumi!
Thank you! This summer we have some veggies as well. Most years, it is is only flowers and herbs. But even our veggie garden has flowers! 🙂