Rose

A beautiful vase sits all alone upon the hearth of a fireplace. Thump. Tumble. Crash. Upset by an object the vase plunges down to the floor and shatters to pieces. Water flowing and roses scattered. The roses thirst. The roses are upset. The water fades and yet the pieces of the shattered home remain untouched.

Shy and yet bashful suitors presented gifts of roses to expose their hidden passion, which are delicate as roses to be expressed openly. They chose different colors, varieties, and arrangements of roses, which were used to communicate their expressed emotions. From the time of Solomon, the rose was closely linked with love. To the Greeks the rose was sacred to Venus and it connected with Cupid. Mark Anthony, received from Cleopatra the expression of her love for him through roses, eighteen inches deep, were strewn upon the floors of her palace. The couches were covered with rose petals and the fountains were filled with the aroma of rose water. Roman nobility established large public rose gardens South of Rome.

Roses have been symbols of war. In the fifteenth century the rose was used for symbols in England. Roses represented two towns, the red rose symbolized Lancaster and the white rose symbolized York. Thus the war in England was known as the "War of the Roses." Roses have been symbols of politics. In the seventeenth century royalty considered roses or rose water as legal tender. Today roses are a represented through its many colors. The following are the meanings traditionally attached to the most popular roses, according to colors:

· Red roses mean romantic love; they're the "Valentine roses,".

· Purple rose is to signify that the giver has fallen in love with the recipient at first sight.

· Coral roses, as well as orange, signal desire.

· The meaning of yellow roses is joy and friendship.

· We express our gratitude and appreciation with pink roses....

· Light Pink in color roses, signify feelings of admiration and sympathy.

· Peach is more ambiguous, as it can signify either sympathy or gratitude.

· Their purity naturally enough lends to white roses the meaning of reverence and humility.

Love, how many ways can it be expressed? Is it the symbol of roses? Is it the symbol of a dove? Is it the symbol of the heart? Sometimes love is a symbol of the roses in a vase and then something happens to which it becomes shattered. Our love placed into a loved one and the vase becomes shattered by their death. Our love placed into our spouse and the vase becomes shattered by the divorce. I believe roses are a symbol of love.

The beautiful petals represent our outward display of our beauty. The aroma is the essence of our complete being from within. The thorns remind others to gently handle us. The complete rose needs nourishment and tender shaping and pruning to keep it alive. Yet the rose remains one of the most beautiful flowers of all. It is a complete package just as love is a complete package.

I Corinthians 13:4-7 Love… bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.

Ever felt like you were the rose in the vase? You go along simply displaying your radiance and then out of nowhere your world tumbles. What you once knew or were living in is now crushed to pieces. How can love believe in all things, hope in all things as well as endures all things?

God loved us enough to send His Son down to earth to die for us, so that we can live again as he is living. Sometimes our world seems to be shaken but have you stopped a moment and look at the rose which was crushed? He was mocked, spat in the face, flogged and beaten. Just like the object which disturbed the vase and then it begins to fall. The savior carries His cross. The vase tumbles and shatters. Just as the Savior needed someone to help carry His cross as he stumbled carrying the heavy load. The nails strike the hands and feet and the blood splatters. As the vase plummets and shatters it splatters broken pieces and water everywhere. The crown of thorns flow with blood and it scars the savior of the sins of the world. The thorns remind Him to be delicate with us and with each other.

Sometimes we think our world is broken and there is no love left. Sometimes we think there is no beauty in the world and there is no love left. When the broken pieces are left and the water is gone and the rose petals have all fallen off all there seems left are the thorns.

The next time you give a rose to your spouse, a friend or a loved one remember to watch the thorns. After all the thorns remind us to be delicate and to remember the saviors love. Thorns pierced him. Isaiah 53:5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.

A rose is beautiful and represents many things. At this time and moment remember the Rose and the love it shows. For love (CHRIST) bore all things, for love (Christ) we believe in all things, for love (CHRIST) we hope in all things and for love (Christ) endured all things. God's Rose was displayed for the world to see as a reminder.

A reminder that even though the Rose has left and gone into heaven the thorns remain for us to remember there is still love in the world. The aroma of the rose is found in us. 2 Corinthians 2:15 For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. What color of rose are you? Don't despair over the broken pieces of your life. For it all has been put back together through nails.

The thorns will remain but the rememberance of the Rose will always linger. The choice is left for you to choose. Choose to remember the broken pieces of the vase and become angry at what caused the accident or choose to remember the child bringing you the roses when you were sick. These roses which lie now on the floor. It's time to appreciate the Rose for all its worth and to allow it to permeate your life with all of its love and don't remember the tattered pieces of your life.