Camellia Petals Only Last A Day
“The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.” Isaiah 40:8
My wife brought some of her parents’ camellias to our house, and this morning there were fresh petals on the floor.
In the ten minutes between getting up and getting in the car to go to school, my daughter found them and adopted them.
We put them in a plastic container, and she held them all the way to school. She typically brings in a stuffed animal for the school day. Today, she chose the container of camellia petals over the stuffed jaguar.
When I picked her up from school, she was looking at the petals with her beset friend.
It was on the way home that the hammer dropped. She noticed the petals were getting black.
“My petals are dying!” she cried.
We explained the biology of plants. The petals had been dead this morning. It was a blessing that they had managed to last for the day.
She wasn’t having any of it.
We handed her kleenux, and it ended there.
Her brief but torrid relationship with these petals is a preview of coming attractions. Truly does the grass wither and the flower fall.
I will hold onto this day as an illustration for her when I want contrast created reality with the Creator. God — and God’s word — will never pass away. That certainly gives me comfort.
