And just as the flowers slowly die in front of the altar, so too do I pray for merely fleeting things to please my Beloved with my babble.
The other day, I saw a magnificent bouquet of flowers set in front of the altar in the Church at Mass.
The flowers were beautiful, multicoloured and simply gorgeous.
I saw those flowers on Monday morning in the early Mass, and they were fresh and smelled beautiful. On Tuesday, the flowers had begun to wilt. On Wednesday there were a few dead stalks in the arrangement. By Thursday all the flowers were looking quite old and tired, and by Friday I could see that those flowers would be disposed of entirely.
And as I noticed the progress of the “life” of that flower arrangement each day during that week, I was reminded of eternal life.
You see, as I watched the progress of those flower from glory to trash, I considered my earthly life and the things that I pray for.
Now, I spend my life praying about many things. I pray about my car drive in the morning. I pray about the food that I am cooking in the afternoon. I pray for peace in my home and for the happiness of my loved ones and I very often pray for the health of the sick. And there is nothing really wrong with praying for any of these things or in this way. In fact, prayer is a simple talk with my Beloved. And my Beloved loves to hear me call out to Him on EVERY SINGLE thing. So, there is really nothing wrong with praying like this.
But I have been reflecting on my prayers and recalling to mind the most important focus of all my prayers – after all, what is the point of praying for all the little things that will wilt away, when I have an eternity of salvation to think about.
And this gives me great hope. Because my prayers are like those flowers in the church. They are to bring joy to my Beloved. The purpose of my prayers is to please my Beloved and I pray in this way, out of LOVE for Him!
And this is important to remember because it means that when my prayers are not answered – when my drive is not good, or my cooking does not work, or my loved ones are unhappy, or the sick are not restored to health – it really does not matter. Because my prayers are an arrangement of flowers presented to my Beloved… And just as the flowers slowly die in front of the altar, so too do I pray for merely fleeting things to please my Beloved with my babble.
For though I so often pray for what is merely fleeting, my Beloved hears all my prayers and answers them with eternal Grace.
And I have been reflecting on that today, as I think about the flowers in the Church. Because of everything I pray for – this too shall pass – and I find great peace in understanding that, even feeling the weight of my fleeting need…
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.
Comments