I was putting the finishing touches to this blogpost a few days ago when I heard news of the horrific murder in Woolwich, which led my heart and thoughts elsewhere... But the tulips are still looking lovely, so here is this blogpost, to remind us of simple beauty in a world which can often appear ugly...
Last month, when I posted a picture on Facebook of our magnolia, my friend Cloister made an interesting comment. She loves magnolia, but... This year though, I am supporting the tulips. Monty Don said they cannot make it. I say anything with as much heart as a tulip will blossom so beautifully the world will stop to watch. I replied that I would pass the message on to the tulips in our garden, to give them more heart in this strange, cool spring, in which every blossom seems an act of defiance.
The encouragement must have worked, because our tulips are now bursting with world-stopping loveliness! Some are tongues of fire, red swirling into yellow. Others are pure gold tipped with sunlight, or luscious, velvety wine trimmed with white, an ermine-trimmed mantle fit for a queen. Even the plain, single-coloured ones look gorgeous! They are, most definitely, flowers with heart, and they are putting those hearts into blossoming so beautifully that onlookers - if not the world - stop to watch.
I have to admit that in previous springs I've never particularly noticed the tulips. Whether I have this year simply because of Cloister's words, or because they really are stupendous I don't know. But what I do know is, there's definitely a message for us all in those tulips, in their fragile strength and tenacity, and their evident heartiness. We need to consider the tulips and ask ourselves: when I am blossoming, being fully alive, fully the person God created me to be, do I too somehow make the world stop and watch...?
Last month, when I posted a picture on Facebook of our magnolia, my friend Cloister made an interesting comment. She loves magnolia, but... This year though, I am supporting the tulips. Monty Don said they cannot make it. I say anything with as much heart as a tulip will blossom so beautifully the world will stop to watch. I replied that I would pass the message on to the tulips in our garden, to give them more heart in this strange, cool spring, in which every blossom seems an act of defiance.
I have to admit that in previous springs I've never particularly noticed the tulips. Whether I have this year simply because of Cloister's words, or because they really are stupendous I don't know. But what I do know is, there's definitely a message for us all in those tulips, in their fragile strength and tenacity, and their evident heartiness. We need to consider the tulips and ask ourselves: when I am blossoming, being fully alive, fully the person God created me to be, do I too somehow make the world stop and watch...?
I LOVE your tulips. We have tulips on the table at the moment, bought by my flatmate. They have great heart too - strong, beautiful, delicate, vulnerable, powerful. Onlookers should stop and stare, if not the world might pass them by! The world is contained within the moments that we take to wonder awe-fully at the love of Creation, in tulips, in the human heart, in the sunshine. All of it is a reflection of one completely amazing divine heart. Then again, I don't need to tell you that! :-) xx
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