THE ROSE WITHIN

A certain man planted a rose and watered it faithfully, 
and before it blossomed, he examined it. He saw the bud 
that would soon blossom and also the thorns. And he 
thought, "How can any beautiful flower come from a plant 
burdened with so many sharp thorns?" Saddened by this 
thought, he neglected to water the rose, and before it 
was ready to bloom, it died.

So it is with many people. Within every soul there is a 
rose. The God like qualities planted in us a birth grow 
amid the thorns of our faults. Many of us look at ourselves 
and see only the thorns, the defects. We despair, thinking 
that nothing good can possible come from us. We neglect to 
water the good within us, and eventually it dies. We never 
realize our potential. 

Some people do not see the rose within themselves; someone 
else must show it to them. One of the greatest gifts a person 
can possess is to be able to reach past the thorns and find 
the rose within others. This is the characteristic of love, 
to look at a person, and knowing his faults, recognize the 
nobility in his soul, and help him realize that he can overcome 
his faults. If we show him the rose, he will conquer the thorns. 
Then will he blossom, blooming forth thirty, sixty, a 
hundred-fold as it is given to him.

Our duty in this world is to help others by showing them their 
roses and not their thorns. Only then can we achieve the love 
we should feel for each other; only then can we bloom in our 
own garden.