On the outskirts of a small town, behind an elegant, beautiful hedge, there was a large garden. Inside the garden, behind branchy and fruit-bearing trees, there was a small house where a friendly family lived. Father, mother and son loved their garden very much and spent a lot of time there. My father trimmed and dug up large trees such as apple trees, pear trees, and walnut trees. The mother planted and tended the vegetable plot, and the son was responsible for the flowers. There were a huge number of flowers in the garden; they were planted in separate flowerbeds, pots and along the paths. How they pleased the eye, what a scent came from this fragrant extravaganza! Near the house itself there was a flower bed with roses. What varieties were there, how they were selected, what a dizzying aroma they emitted!
In the very center of the flowerbed grew a single rose, brought from afar and presented to the owner of the house. Rose was very beautiful and unlike her lovely relatives. It shimmered with an unusual color; at different times of the day it looked different: from bright red to dark burgundy.
Below, on the ground under the roses, life also passed. Ants, bugs, insects, grasshoppers, worms - everyone had the right to life, and life was no easier than in other areas of the garden. All these earthly inhabitants saw the rose only from below. They heard about its beauty and smell, but could not understand why such conversations were happening. Well, there is a pillar all covered with prickly thorns, and what’s so beautiful about it? Everyone avoided this ugliness, and few wanted to climb this prickly and ugly pillar. Where is the beauty here?
There were other inhabitants of the garden - butterflies, bees, birds. They saw the rose from above, felt its aroma and could not understand why the earthly inhabitants were indignant, and did not see the beauty of the petals, and did not smell the wonderful smell of the rose. How can you not see this beauty?
And the dispute between the upper and lower inhabitants of the garden was endless. Some saw prickly thorns, others only saw fragrant flowers. Well, what about man?
The person saw the rose in its total volume. He enjoyed the beauty and aroma of the wonderful flower, but at the same time he never forgot about the prickly thorns hiding in the rose's trunk. Man is a likeness of the Creator, and he must always know that there are not only thorns of life, but there is the Great Power of Beauty. Beauty that gives Strength, Joy, Hope, Faith, Love.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru