By Sharon Chiellini
Have you ever really looked at a rose bush? They really aren't very attractive without the roses. In fact, the thorns are quite offensive and the leaves are usually rather sparse and unexciting.
When I was growing up my parents had a vine-like rose bush growing on the side of our house and I remember thinking that it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen, in fact when it was in full bloom, I couldn't run past it without stopping to admire it's beauty. I loved that rose bush because all I ever saw when I looked at it were the roses.
When I was in high school my father was working in the yard one day and I heard my mother tell him "While you're out there, can you get rid of that ugly rose vine on the side of the house, I am so tired of looking at that thing!" I was mortified and asked my Mom why on earth she would want to get rid of the rose vine and she told me that she had never liked it, and it had always looked scraggly and she repeated that she was tired of looking at it. I implored her to let it live and was quite pleased with what I thought was a successful attempt to save the rose vine from execution, until I was walking into the back yard a few days later and gasped at the bareness of the side of our house. The rose vine was completely and utterly gone.
Looking at the side of our house where the rose vine used to be is still a vivid memory for me because I was at a time in my life when I was almost grown and knew that life was changing. It also taught me that what was beautiful to one person may be ugly to someone else. Just because something was valuable to me, did not mean that it had value to everyone. When I looked at the bush and saw the roses, someone else saw only thorns. Have you ever really looked at a rose bush? They really aren't very attractive without the roses. In fact, the thorns are quite offensive and the leaves are usually rather sparse and unexciting.
When I was growing up my parents had a vine-like rose bush growing on the side of our house and I remember thinking that it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen, in fact when it was in full bloom, I couldn't run past it without stopping to admire it's beauty. I loved that rose bush because all I ever saw when I looked at it were the roses.
When I was in high school my father was working in the yard one day and I heard my mother tell him "While you're out there, can you get rid of that ugly rose vine on the side of the house, I am so tired of looking at that thing!" I was mortified and asked my Mom why on earth she would want to get rid of the rose vine and she told me that she had never liked it, and it had always looked scraggly and she repeated that she was tired of looking at it. I implored her to let it live and was quite pleased with what I thought was a successful attempt to save the rose vine from execution, until I was walking into the back yard a few days later and gasped at the bareness of the side of our house. The rose vine was completely and utterly gone.
Not too long after that my brother Gary gave me a laminated card for my wallet that had a poem about the "Rose of Sharon" on it. I only had brothers and no sisters, so I had always been the "Rose Amongst the Thorns", or so that's how I saw it anyway and the phrase was mentioned at our house from time to time.
"The Rose of Sharon" is a Biblical reference that always made me feel special...since my name is Sharon...but I never took the time to actually look up what the real meaning of it was, until now. I discovered that in Biblical times "Sharon" was a lush valley-plain in Palestine where many beautiful varieties of flowers grew but there was one particular flower that was considered the most beautiful and perfect flower of them all and it was called the "Rose of Sharon". In actuality, the original rose of Sharon is believed to have been in the hibiscus family, not actually a rose, but I digress. Some scholars feel that the Bible refers to the "Rose of Sharon" as being a reference to Jesus himself, others disagree and find no support for that theory since there is only one reference to it in the Bible in the Song of Solomon, and Jesus is more commonly referred to as the "Lilly of the Valley" in other scripture references.
Regardless of the origin, I still find it fascinating that the rose, the one flower that is considered the most perfect and beautiful of all and is used all over the world as the universal symbol of love, grows on such an ugly bush.
I am reminded of something I read recently about the splendor of God's Glory. In his study entitled "Angelology - The Doctrine of Angels" J. Hampton Keathley III pens a vivid picture of God's Glory when he writes "...Just as nothing displays the splendor of a diamond in the light more than a backdrop of black velvet, so nothing could display the glory of God’s mercy, goodness, grace, and love as much as the blackness of man’s sin."
I have to wonder if the roses would stand out quite as well if they grew on a beautiful bush rather than an ugly one. Now don't get me wrong, I don't have all the answers in fact I have very few, but I do have many questions and I am looking forward to discussing all of them in great detail when I get to heaven. But one thing I am sure...the thorns serve a purpose, if for nothing else, so that we are able to appreciate the roses.
I know I have many flaws but my husband will be the first to tell you that pessimism is not one of them. I always prefer to see the glass half full rather than half empty and I will always see the roses despite the thorns and I pray that you are able to do the same.
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Until next time my friend,
Strength and Honor in Christ
