The Redwoods and the Rose 1/5/02

A young man was walking through a redwood forest.  It was late afternoon and there was a soft breeze and the sound of the wind as it talked to the trees.  There was bright sunlight in certain places and the trees were reaching up toward the heavens and sky and soon, the night stars.

As the young man walked, he noticed a beautiful rose growing between two huge redwoods.  It was a beautiful rose, even more so than every other rose.  This rose had a spirit that beckoned the young man to come closer.  As he did, the rose began to speak in a beautiful soft young woman’s voice, “welcome, it is nice to see you, I hope you are enjoying God’s beauty this fine day”.  “Yes”, said the young man, “what a surprise, a rose that talks”.  The rose smiled as roses do.  “Well, that’s because you have not really listened carefully enough.  The sounds of the world can overcome even the most beautiful song, if you let it.  You have caught me at a special moment in my life”.  “What moment is that?” asked the handsome young man.  “The sun is getting ready to set and you are preparing for the evening”.  “Why is this moment different from any other?” asked the young man of the rose.  “Because”, said the rose, “it never was before, and never will be again.  So each moment is a special moment in your life, don’t you agree?”  “That’s a great way of looking at life”.  “Yes”, said the rose, “that you can be sure you will not miss out on all that life has to offer which is always so much more than we can experience”.

The young man was astounded that this was happening to him.  He looked up at the redwoods, “do they speak too?”   “Of course”, said the redwood on his right.  “Of course”, said the redwood on his left.  “You can hear us too if you listen.  We have seen and heard many things.  We can see as far as the eye can see above the forest floor up to the heavens.  We can see the great cities far off and the stars that smile and the raindrops that greet us as they fall.  You have come to a special part of the forest, so that means that God has decided you are ready to understand”.  “Understand what?” said the young man.  “That God is all things, that God is the past, present and future all at once.  That is shy we have never had to worry.  We have been given this knowledge in exchange for what you might call mobility.  That is because we each have a job to do.  It is as simple as that”.  “Yes”, said the rose, “as simple and as complicated as that”.  The redwoods and the rose laughed out of joy…“we are not laughing at you, we are just happy.  Can you understand this?”  “I think I can”, said the young man, “knowing who and what you are and why you are here is what makes us all unique.  What makes us all part of the same plan, yet separate”.  “Bravo”, said the redwoods in unison.

The rose blushed and turned up to look at the young mans eyes, “you have pretty eyes”.  “Thank you, they can see you and this great forest and these giant redwoods”.  The rose allowed the gentle wind to bring her closer to the young mans face “there is a tiny corner of sadness in them, why?”  The young man thought for a moment.  “Well”, he said, “I have just lost someone dear to me, unexpectedly.  That’s why I am walking in the forest today”.  “Oh”, said the rose, “did you love this human?”  “Yes, very much, more than I knew.  Now she is gone and I cannot tell her”.  The rose thought for a moment, “now I know why you saw me, you were led to this place.  It is what the redwoods said.  You are ready to hear and ready to see.  Your love loss has made it so”.

There was a silence.  A silence of peace as if the young man and the redwoods and the rose were all one thought, all one idea.  The rose spoke first “do you believe you will see her again?”  “That’s the question we all ask.  Some have faith in things they cannot see or prove.  Others have no real hope.  That’s life.  Something like that”.  “Oh”, said the rose, “we here in the forest never doubt that love is eternal, it is forever, like heaven.  Forever, like God”.  The young man sighed, “I wish I could be that sure”.  The redwoods spoke, “we have seen so many of you humans come and go.  Start as children running through these woods and then hobbling along as old men, as we keep growing taller and fuller, all of you less than one of our rings”.  The rose laughed, “He means one hundred years”.  They all laughed at this little joke.  “I needed that”, said the young man, “thank you.”

The silence came again.  The wind grew a little stronger and the first colors of early evening began to fill the forest.  “Soon I must go”, said the young man.  “Yes, we know”, said the rose, “first you must come to understand what God is telling you today.  What God wants you to know through your pain.  What God has always wanted you to know.  It is a simple step of acceptance.  Soon I must go too.  Each of us has a destination.  God always makes sure things are balanced and then He has done his work.  When things are balanced, He works on new things to solve, new gifts to give the world.  It may seem as if He takes them, yet He does not.  They have always been His to give or take.  He sees far beyond what we can imagine, no matter who we are.  God is love, always and forever.  He never creates a beautiful creation unless it can be seen, unless it adds to the joy of life.  That is what beauty is.  Even the lack of it makes the heart yearn for the presence of it.  Beauty is God’s fingerprint, like the starts.  Oh, look, they are coming out, you can barely see them, but they are there even at night, the sun is there, even in the day, the stars are there.  It’s just the way things are; you can’t see them at times, yet they are always there, perfectly in place, perfectly balanced.  You see how simple it can be, young man?”

The young man looked up at the sky, “yes, I do see that and yes, I do feel that.  Especially here with you, my new friends in this beautiful forest”.  The rose listened intently; she knew it was time, “young man, never forget me”.  The young man kissed the rose, “I shall, I promise to never forget you, not you redwoods.”  The redwoods blew slightly from side to side, acknowledging the young man.  The young man did not want the moment to end, “couldn’t I stay here for the night and we could all just talk?  I want to know more about this place.”  “No,” said the rose, “this is not the way”, said the redwoods, “your heart is changed for the good, now you can go on.  But trust that there is yet more for you to know before you find your way through this forest where we live.”

The young man picked up his pack, caressed the rose and hugged the redwoods as best as he could, “thank you all.  I will pas this way again and say hello”.  The redwoods spoke, “If God wills it and if you need it, but things are always changing here, it wont be necessary.  Once you think of a person or place you love, you are there, deep inside your mind, deep inside your heart.  Take one last look before your journey”.

The young man stepped a few feet away, took out his camera and took his last photo of the rose and the redwoods, “well good luck and love to you”.  The rose and the redwoods in unison said, “Good luck and love to you too.”  Then he turned and walked away.  As he hit the turn that would put the rose and the redwoods out of his line of vision, he paused and turned to wave one more time.  As he did, he noticed that the wind had taken the petals off the rose and they were gently rising into the air guided by the redwoods slowly upward toward the sky and the night stars, which were starting to appear in great numbers.  He could hear a song he had never heard before.  A song of peace, a song of eternity that was coming from everywhere in the forest.  He watched as the redwoods guided the petals higher and higher up towards the sky and then they were gone into the heavens.  He could hear the sounds of applause and joyful singing from the trees and all that lived in the forest.  It was then he knew that God was telling him.  There is no end, only beginnings.  There is no death when there is love.  There is no loneliness that cannot be overcome.  For his Father’s house has many mansions.

That night as he lay by his small campfire.  He smiled at the wonderful meeting and knowledge that God had given him that day.  He knew that somewhere in the sky that night was a new star, it was rose in color and its petals had flown to other distant starts and then to other planets we could not know.  That somewhere the seed of a rose was planted near in a forest, or perhaps a desert, and that the light from the new star would help to give it life so that it could continue its journey and bring beauty to some other place that needed it too.  And it was that night and always that love that went on and on and on and touched people and continued on its heavenly journey.  The next time you see the stars or a beautiful rose, just say hello.  You’d be surprised what a rose can teach you even when you least expect it.

With love for Catya Sasoon