A certain man planted a rose and watered it
faithfully and before it blossomed, he examined it. He saw the
bud that would soon blossom, but noticed thorns upon the stem and he thought,
"How can any beautiful flower come from a plant burdened with so many
sharp thorns? Saddened by this thought, he neglected to water the rose, and
just before it was ready to bloom... it died.
So it is with
many people. Within every soul there is a rose. The God-like qualities planted
in us at birth, grow amid the thorns of our faults. Many of us look at
ourselves and see only the thorns, the defects.
We despair,
thinking that nothing good can possibly come from us. We neglect to water the
good within us, and eventually it dies. We never realize our potential.
Some people
do not see the rose within themselves; someone else must show it to them. One
of the greatest gifts a person can possess is to be able to reach past the
thorns of another, and find the rose within them.
Help others
to realize they can overcome their faults. If we show them the "rose"
within themselves, they will conquer their thorns. Only then will they blossom
many times over.
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