Introduction

The Rose in the Garden of Flowers


What a beautiful flower. Yes, a Universal beauty. All other flowers may show their beauty and try to take the place of the rose, but they never will. All the human race loves the rose. Yes, there are more beautiful colors in some other flowers; there are more rare flowers; there may be other flowers that give off a more pleasing aroma but after all when we have looked upon them all and have drank in all their beauty; after we have inhaled of their pleasing aroma; it seems we turn back to the rose and say "Yes, they are beautiful, but you are the queen of them all. It is not only your sweet beauty that tells the story; it is not only that sweet pleasing aroma that makes you so dear to the children; but it is your likeness and your symbol to the newborn flower of the birth of a newborn child that makes you the favorite flower to the human race.

It is the purity of your formation as a bud. It is the secret of your beauty that you seem to hold. It is the anticipation you give to your owner that makes you what you are and puts you into a place all to yourself. As we gaze upon you in your first coming forth, we look upon you and you look so sweet, so pure, so innocent. You hold us in awe as you seem to smile upon us and say, 'I will keep you interested day by day and as I unfold myself you will be always wondering what I am going to reveal tomorrow; as I seem to unfurl my petals for your benefit so you can see life illustrated. Some will see it and understand; some will see me and see nothing but my beauty and drink in of my pleasant aroma; some may not see any beauty in me at all; yet, I go on day after day unfurling my lesson in life that those who might see and understand and benefit by my life.

First, I am a child in its purity and within me is a hidden secret - that is my Soul. In a few days, I leave my childhood and expand into youth. As you see me burst forth in my youth, I show a little more of my beauty and spread a little more of my aroma which represent the child advanced to know it lives and realizes it has someone to love and someone to return that love; someone to return that sweetness I have thrown out to others who have an interest in me and feel me and give me drink and fondle me kindly and carefully. How I glory in this part of my existence. It seems my infancy in the bud was all right; but I could not see as I wanted to see the ones who cared for me. I could not feel their kindly touch for I was too compact; but even then I felt I was taken care of and it was this feeling that gave me the instinct to be worthy of such care.

So here I am in my youth today; and as I look upon the world I feel its greatness. As I drink in the warmth of the sunshine, it makes me try to come forward and show more of my loveliness. As I get thirsty and feel those cool refreshing little rain drops fall upon me, I seem to drink in of the life they carry with them. What could I say, but thank you? What could I do but advance and spread more of my beauty to repay the others who are so kind to me?

In a few more days, I am in the stage of maturity. How good I feel when I am compressed no more, when I feel that I have given all my beauty the essence of my life to those who cared for me. How I glorified in the life of expansion that I might make bare the life of man and woman upon the Earth. Then comes the greatest part of my life. I showed beauty in its purity; I showed youth in all its effection; I showed maturity in all its unfolding and showed life in its reality. The fourth stage of my life comes into being. The sun rays seem to bother me. The rain seems to agitate me rather than make me feel glad. The admiration of my friends have lost their earnestness and instead of saying, is not this a beautiful rose, they say, this was a lovely rose. I wish you could have seen it before it became old and tired and weary of its journey through life.

To hear these things seem to hurt me and make me wish for the day when I can pass from their sight and not hear their comments; yet, if they knew as much as I do they would not speak thus for I know I have lived my time in this one life. I have given all I could seemingly give to make the lives of those who see me more pleasant.

Do you think, since I am old and not so good to look upon as I was in the passing through from my infancy to what I am today, this is the end of my life, of my beauty, my pleasing aroma, of my vision of the sun, of my feeling the coolness of the rain drops. You are mistaken, for you know we understand creation. We are not as men are, we are of Creation and know the laws of Creation, and, therefore, we do not feel as sad as you think we ought for we know why we are here and we know we have a never-ending mission; so as you see me shed my beautiful dress, my petals, they will fall to the soil which gave them life for a short season and in their death they will give back to the soil that gave them life all the things the soil gave unto them. The soil will take in the leaf as it seems to dissolve and the soil will also drink in the aroma that it gave the rose.

So you see this is not death; it is going through a mystery to those of Creation who were given power to think and see or not see - as they choose. The rose, as it sinks into the mother Earth that gave it to us last spring is only taking it back to take care of it through the times of cutting winds, heavy snow storms and killing frost. She, the mother Earth, will spread its warmth of protection over it until next spring; then she will unfold her arms once more and say, my children you can go forth once more and live again and show your beauty and give your sweet aroma to the children of Creation so they too might come to the same common knowledge as we know that the passing on from seemingly life to death is not death at all; but a new and ever - Circle of life after life.

As they, the human race, gives its body to the soil just as we go back to the soil is only the life within us will never die; but will arise up in a new body just as the Soul or life of the rose comes forth in a new-born rose. You see it as a continued Circle even as all things of Creation live in Circles.' "

If all things of Creation live in circles why should man be deprived of this ever-coming forward that it too as time goes on becomes more beautiful. So the garden of the children may receive more beautiful bodies as the Soul-mind advances into higher, cleaner, purer and more manly thoughts; for as the Soul-mind is so shall the body be.

I would say to you, after you have read this little mental picture, "Try to cultivate the Soul-mind pictures beautiful. As sure as you do, so will your life be beautiful. As you beautify the life, the body must come forth as it should to be a credit to the life within. There is no limit to the beauty you can put into pictures as your days go on if you have the Truth of Life even as the 'Little Rose'."





End Introduction