and here’s a perfect story to illustrate the date:

On Being a Perfect Rosebud by Mira C. Coone 

 Consider a rosebud.  It is one of the most wondrous of God’s creations.  Its color can be rich and vibrant or a delicate pastel. It is subtly fragrant and a gentle touch reveals the softness and smoothness of its petals.  It holds such promise and has the potential to bloom and burst forth in glorious beauty.  We nurture it gently; feed and water it, protect it from extremes of wind and temperature and wait and watch, anticipating its unfolding and the fulfillment of its mission: to bring joy and awe to the beholder of its beauty.

How we are like rosebuds!  We are not finished yet.  We have not fully bloomed.  We have not yet attained the glory and immortality that awaits us.  We have shortcomings. 

Do we fault or criticize the rosebud for not being a fully blossomed rose?  Do we discard it and abandon it and fail to care for or nurture it because it isn’t complete?  Do we deliberately pollute its water or subject it to conditions that will damage it?  Do we withhold sunlight and water from it?  Of course not!

Let me nurture my own emerging self with divine light and living water.  Let me see myself through the eyes of the Gardener.  Let me marvel at my own unfolding beauty.  Let me appreciate the good qualities I have developed thus far and nurture the gifts and talents I have been given.   Let me abstain from polluting myself with things or thoughts that would harm me.

May I wait patiently for the gentle unfolding of my full potential and appreciate the journey and the process.  I may not yet be a perfect rose, but I am a perfect rosebud, and God loves me exactly as I am.

©Mira K. Coone, 2003.  Used with permission.