If you asked me, “What do you see differently since becoming a religious brother,” you might be surprised to hear, “Flowers.” It may seem odd to connect an appreciation of flowers with religious sentiment, but flowers proclaim in a unique way the greatness of God. Their effortless elegance and subtle intensity show how “not even Solomon in all his splendor was clothed like one of them” (Matt 6:29). Every year daffodils and tulips, lilies and roses, hydrangeas and periwinkles dazzle us with their color and splendor. And a truth is revealed in these flowers. It is the truth of God’s creative love and freely given grace, through which he fashions a world for us—a beautiful and lovely world, full of streams, mountains, and all kinds of flowers: flowers which reveal the gift of God’s creative love.
In the first chapter of Genesis, God commands Adam and Eve to “fill the earth and subdue it” (Gen 1:28). He gives them dominion over all the earth. There is a responsibility in all of this, but also an immense gift. We sometimes forget that God made the entire universe just so that he could put us into it. All the beauty and goodness and life that we find in the world is a pure gift of God—he made it for us. The glory of a perfect sunset over the ocean, the subliminity of a clear mountain top view, and the delightful scent of a favorite flower have all been put on this earth for our enjoyment.
But what would compel God to create this wonderful world for us? He needs nothing, after all. It is a mystery, for sure, but we might say that it is due to God’s goodness and love. God made us out of a superabundance of his goodness, and he desired us to be happy. And we are only truly happy when we know him. It is, then, simply another act of love that the glory of creation would reveal to us the greatness of our creator. As a flower blossoms in order to attract pollinators, we could say that God uses the beauty of the world in order to draw us to him. It is amazing to think that the simplicity and elegance of even a little tulip can raise the mind to the sublime beauty and wondrous simplicity of God.
Great indeed is the gift of creation, but greater still is the gift of re-creation. For, truly, the resurrection of Christ brought new life into our beautiful yet broken world. By grace, the world is redeemed, elevated, and renewed. The Resurrection reminds us that “if God so clothes the grass of the field, which grows today and is thrown into the oven tomorrow, will he not much more provide for you” (Matt 6:30). We are clothed with the Holy Spirit. The creator of the universe comes into the depths of our souls and makes his home there. We die with Christ in baptism but await an eternal life of glory and bliss. There, we will be clothed in spotless white garments, and even the flowers of the field will envy us.
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Photo by Sébastien Goldberg (Unsplash)
