Monday, May 20, 2002
Monday, May 20, 2002
The flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing has come, and the voice of
the turtledove is heard in our land.
Then there is a Persian legend about the origin of tulips. A young man named Farhad was in
love with a beautiful woman, Sharin. One day Farhad received news that his lover was dead.
In his grief, he jumped off a high cliff and fell to his death. Sadly, though, the message had
been sent by a jealous rival, and Sharin was still actually alive. But where Farhad's body had
landed, there appeared a new, beautiful flower: the tulip.
The beauty and majesty of living things has always captured the imagination of creative souls.
A clever preacher once compared the life of faith to a garden. He said that in his garden he
would plant three rows of squash: squash gossip, squash criticism, squash indifference. Then
he would put in three rows of lettuce: let us be faithful, let us be unselfish, let us love one
another. Finally he would add turnips: turn up for church, turn up with a smile, turn up to serve
others.
(Song of Solomon 2.12
NRSV)
There are many legends in many cultures concerning how certain flowers came into existence.
Germany has a legend which tells about the origin of the primrose. Apparently Saint Peter
once heard a rumor that some wayward souls were trying to slip into the back door of heaven
rather than entering through the Pearly Gates. Saint Peter got so upset by this that he dropped
his keys; whereupon they fell to earth and grew into primroses.
Dear Jesus, thank you for the beautiful flowers that remind me of your greatest. Amen.
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