Flower of Eternity

… And the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.

— Isaiah 35:1

God is in all, through all, and above all …

— The Science of Mind, page 493

Flower of Eternity

There once was a young woman. People loved her and animals loved her. Plants that she tended responded to her care and flourished. Children followed her around. Kim had a life-threatening disease, and the day after Easter, she passed on. Everyone was very sad. I was honored to be asked to preside at her funeral. Something remarkable happened. On the preceding Valentine’s Day, her mother had given her a ranunculus plant. It had bloomed nobly for two weeks and then died. Not even Kim could prevent its death. First the blossoms dried up and fell off, one by one. Next, the leaves dried up and fell off one by one. Finally, the entire plant just dried up. There seemed to be no life left in it at all, so Kim’s mother decided to take it out of the pot until spring and then replant it. The roots were left exposed.

A few days before Kim died, she said to her mother, “I wish that ranunculus plant would somehow come to life and bloom again for Easter.” Easter came and the plant did not blossom. But on the day of Kim’s funeral, her mother happened to go into the yard, and there on the ranunculus plant was a beautiful blossom. She brought the bloom to me and said she wanted to share it with the church, so we put it on the altar. That cut flower lasted in a glass of water over three weeks and dozens of people enjoyed its beauty. Kim was telling all of us: “I am not dead, I merely sleep.”

Today I realize that there is just life, life and more life.

And I thank Kim for her eternal ranunculus,

which is a symbol of eternal livingness.

Thank You, God for this realization.