FLOWER FRIDAY - A DROOPING ROSE

I decided late yesterday afternoon that if I wanted to blip this beautiful crocus rose, I would need to bring it indoors, because stormy weather was forecast.

I have mentioned before that all the David Austin roses we have seem to have beautiful and fragrant blooms, but as they are so heavy, they tend to droop rather than stand upright on the stem - in fact, the flower almost seems too heavy for the size of the stem.

I took several shots, looking directly at the actual flower, but preferred this one, showing the heaviness of the bloom.

This got me thinking about how people seem to be “bowed down” at this time of year - there is so much to do, and there never seems to be enough time;  we dash around from shop to shop, buying presents and maxing out our credit cards - when actually, the people we are buying for would rather have our “presence” than our “presents”.

It doesn’t have to be like this - perhaps we need to take a step back and ask ourselves what we really want out of life - do our children really need all those expensive toys and games that never come out of the box?  Does our Grandmother need that soap and hand cream in a special holder or will it end up in a charity shop in January?  And whoever uses a bookmark with a light, or wears socks that play “We Wish You a Merry Christmas”?  Then what about the trolley loads of food and drink that will be bought, but then often moulders in our fridges?  The shops will be open again - in fact, most of them are only closed for one day.  

Let’s make up our minds to stop bowing to the god of materialism and keep Christ in Christmas.

I make no apology for re-quoting this from a few days ago:

"Want to keep Christ in Christmas? 
Feed the hungry, 
clothe the naked, 
forgive the guilty, 
welcome the unwanted, 
care for the ill, 
love your enemies, 
and do unto others 
as you would have done 
unto you." 
Steve Maraboli