The Garden (A Story About the Buds and the Boys)

 Joel wrote this for me. There is word play in the last stanza, in his choice of the word 'elegant' referencing my name, Ellen, and also in his reference to 'Pearl White Lilies,' as my middle name means pearl.


The Garden (A Story About the Buds and the Boys)

In my Father’s house is a garden, wherein are planted His most precious and cherished flowers. Each one is worth more than a king’s ransom in His eyes.

 

By His hand alone are they nourished and cared for, until their delicate and wondrously hued petals are ready to blossom forth and reveal the beauty hidden within.

 

While growing up, my brothers and I would play in His garden, in direct disobedience. We trampled, broke and bruised more flowers than we could count, but there were still so many countless others, we didn’t care about the pain and damage we caused. Weeds and thorns sprouted up and we were torn and cut. In our anger, we defiantly trampled even more, deliberately ripping and tearing off the petals and leaves. Our Father came and beheld what we had wrought, and became angered. He threw us out of His house, telling us what we had forgotten:

 

“DON’T YOU UNDERSTAND? I HAVE GROWN THESE FLOWERS FOR YOU! I HAVE PROMISED EACH OF YOU – ONE – FLOWER – EACH! I TRAINED YOU TO CARE FOR, LOVE, AND DEVOTE YOURSELVES TO THEM. IN RETURN YOU WOULD HAVE A GARDEN OF YOUR OWN, FILLING YOUR LIVES WITH JOY, BEAUTY, AND SWEET FRAGRANCES, AND YET INSTEAD YOU HAVE CARELESSLY TORN, BROKEN, AND BRUISED YOUR BROTHER’S FLOWERS. HAVE YOU NO SHAME?”

 

We have grown up now, and some of my brothers, like myself, have come back to our Father’s house where we work, train, and wait for the day when He will place in our hands a healed and restored flower, ready and waiting to blossom under our tender loving care and devotion, filling our gardens with new flowers grown under His guidance and instruction.

 

He favors Pearl White Lilies, I think He’s right. I’ve only seen them from the window, and in a garden full of color they stand out as the most exquisite in comparison. They are simply elegant… Maybe one day.

~ by Joel Purkerson

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