"Watermark"
The Parable of the Rose
A certain man planted a rose
and watered it faithfully.
Before it blossomed, he
examined it. He saw a bud
that would soon blossom.
He also saw the thorns and
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 ready to bloom,
it died.
So it is with many people. Within every soul there is a rose. The "God-like" qualities planted in
us at birth, growing amidst
the thorns of our faults.
Many of us look at ourselves
and see only the thorns ~
the defects.
We despair, thinking nothing
good could possibly come
from us. We neglect to water
the good within us, and
eventually it dies. We never
realize our potential.
Some don't see the rose within themselves. It takes someone
else to show it to them.
One of the greatest gifts a
person can possess is to
be able to reach past the
thorns and find the rose
within others.
This is the truest, most innocent
and characteristic of love ~
to know another person,
including their faults,
recognize the nobility in
their soul and yet, still help
another to realize they can overcome their faults.
If we show them the rose,
they will conquer the thorns.
Only then will they blossom
many times over.
Our duty in this world is
to help others by showing them
their roses and not their thorns.
It is then that we achieve the
love we should feel for each
other. Only then can we bloom
in our own garden.
~ Umair ~
(A college student in Saudi Arabia)
