While walking under a cloudless sky last Tuesday I noticed an intoxicating smell carried on the wind. It seemed to follow me as I walked. I scanned the forest for the source of the scent and found it: wild roses.
These bushes grow along roadsides and stretch six feet across and five feet in the air. Wild rose blossoms are white, five-petaled, and flat. They’re about the size of a nickel.
If you don’t recognize these bushes, don’t kick yourself. They look like briars most of the year. You’d think you’re doing yourself a favor by cutting them down. But you’d be depriving yourself of an aroma like no other.
As I’ve written before, I have a gorgeous old-fashioned rose bush with baby skin-soft white petals. It’s drooping with blossoms this year. It, too, smells wonderful, but you have to press your nose to the flower to smell the bouquet.
We’re all familiar with long-stemmed roses. These are what people buy for loved ones. But they have virtually no scent, unless you grow them yourself. My late Grandma, Jo Louden, grew gorgeous roses. My favorites were her pastel yellow variety. She used to cut buds and put them vases on her dining room table. But even her beautiful roses didn’t have the same glorious, delicate scent that fragrances an entire area of a forest.
I’ll revel in the aroma and splendor of wild rose blossoms for another few days; then they’ll wither and drop to the ground. They’ll look like briars for eleven months. Then, one day next spring I’ll walk into a heady fragrance and feel as if I’ve entered a perfumed alternate reality for a few moments.
Smelling and looking at wild roses makes me wonder how many people are similar to these bushes. How many people appear ugly, prickly, and unnoticeable while hiding something beautiful inside?
I learned from my favorite childhood story, “Beauty and the Beast,” that, as my mom used to say, “Pretty is as pretty does.” In other words, who we are in our hearts defines us, not our faces or figures.
Have you ever read the story of the prophet Samuel anointing David king? As Samuel assessed Jesse’s oldest son, Eliab, who must’ve been tall and handsome, the Lord said, “’Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.’” (1 Samuel 16:7 NIV)
God also knows someone who may appear unattractive or nasty may actually be beautiful underneath. But how are we supposed to know that?
Our best bet would be praying for these types of people. Once they start to open up, we can listen and be kind. Then we can stand back and watch God change them.
Maybe next June you’ll walk by a wild rose bush, let the aroma envelop you, and remember God transformed a formerly briar-like person in your life into a rose blossom.
All God’s blessings to you this week.