If you stop along life's path to smell the roses, you might from time to time, encounter the sharp point of a jagged thorn. Does that mean you avoid the rose-bush because of the thorns? If you avoid the rose-bush, you will miss the fragrance of the rose and the beauty of the exquisite flower. If you avoid the rose-bush because of the fear of the thorn your life will be poorer because of it. There is great joy to be found in stopping to smell the roses. Do not worry about the thorns, but look at the blessing of the rose.

I have the privilege of working at the local Detox Center. This week, one of our Morning Reflections Group dealt with a reflection that said" I can complain because rose-bushes have thorns... or rejoice because the thorn-bush has a rose." In preparation for the group I put my pen to paper and the following words flowed from my mind on to the page:

Let me see roses in spite of the thorns,
As the troubles of life are borne,
Help me look past the hurt and the pain,
And sense purpose in my life once again,
Help me see the way of victory,
And seek to live my life truly free,
Although Recovery's path is so long,
Help me daily seek to remain strong,
In the midst of the thorns help me find the rose,
Search for lasting joy as my life grows.

A day after the group one of the clients came to me and thanked me for the poem. He said it was what he needed. It helped him look at his attitude. He said it encouraged him to look to the future with hope. Life is not all prickly thorns but rather there are also fragrant roses to enjoy. If we want to have success on the Road of Recovery we need to take time to enjoy the aroma of the sweet nectar of the rose. We need to enjoy the fragrance of the flower and envelope ourselves in its sweet serenity. We have a choice; we can fear the thorn and avoid the rose-bush, or we can be attracted by the beauty of the flower and its sweet nectar and enjoy it, and embrace it.

I pray that in my life I will smell the rose and not fear the thorn.O Lord help me know the joy of the rose-bush in my daily life in spite of the thorns.

Learn more about this author, Ed Ostrom.
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