The Parable of the Flower

The Title pretty much describes it.

While traveling through the countryside a man saw a beautiful flower and the flower was so beautiful that the man became spellbound. As he stood looking at it, he noticed that the flower seemed to glow in the rays of the afternoon sunlight.

The plant, from which the flower sprang, was high up on a ridge of a cliff.

The man, who we will call Jacob, wanted to take the flower home to his wife, but the climb would soil his clothing and make him late for a meeting in town; so, he noted where the plant was and put the note in his pocket.

That evening, finding the note in his pocket, Jacob called an artist named Mosinee.

The artist that he contacted was very famous and revered. She was a woman who was well known for her ability to paint still life paintings in such a manner that the subject of each painting appeared real.

Jacob asked Mosinee to go to the area where he had seen the flower and paint a likeness of it; he would pay her whatever she required.

Jacob wanted the painting for his wife; she was redecorating their house and he thought the painting would make an excellent addition to one of the rooms.

In about a month the artist arrived with the painting, and it was beautiful. Mosinee had captured every detail of the flower; even the glow seemed to be there. Mosinee said the glow developed as the painting neared completion, but she was at a loss to explain how that had happened.

Jacob was so pleased with the painting that he tried to pay Mosinee more than she had asked for.

She thanked him several times but refused to accept any more payment than her standard fee.

Jacob was baffled by her actions but shrugged his shoulders and wished her well.

She departed.

Jacob took the painting to his wife, Ann, and she was thrilled. She rushed, with the painting, from room to room to see where it would look best, unfortunately the colors of the flower clashed with every room they tried to put it in.

Ann had just spent a fortune decorating the house and to re-decorate a room for just one painting would not do at all.

So, Jacob reluctantly wrapped the painting in butcher’s paper, wrote something on it, and put it in the cellar.

On the very day the painting was being delivered, a beautiful young woman and a good friend were passing by the area where the flower was growing.

When the young woman saw the flower, she was ah struck. She turned to her friend and said, “The Festival Dance is tonight, and that flower would look wonderful with my new dress.”

Her friend replied, “If I climb up there and get it for you will you let me take you to the dance?”

“Oh yes,” She squealed!

With that, the young man began climbing.

It was not an easy place on the hillside to get to; it was very steep with lots of loose rocks.

Try as he did, the young man was in much too much of a hurry and he was slipping and sliding all over the place.

Well, wouldn’t you know it? Just as the young man grabbed the flower, down he slid, yelling and tumbling as he fell. By the time he came to a stop he found that the flower was gone. It was pulverized to the point that not one pedal was left whole.

The young woman was so angry with him that she stormed off in a huff!

As for the young man, he went home nursing his wounds and a broken heart.

A year passed and the plant had grown a new flower, even more beautiful than the first.

As it happened, a gardener was passing by and saw the new flower. He was beside himself with delight!

Straight away, the gardener went home to his work shed and he took from the shed a flowerpot, a hand spade, and some potting soil. Next, he brought out an old ladder, a rope, and a flask of water, then he gathered everything together and off he went.

When the gardener arrived at the hillside that held the plant, he placed the ladder against the cliff. Next, he put the spade and the flowerpot in the sack with the potting soil and tied the rope onto the sack. Next, he climbed the ladder while holding the other end of the rope, until he reached the ridge.

Once the gardener was on the ridge, he dug up the plant. Then he put it in the pot with new soil, some water, and placed the plant inside the sack. He lowered the sack back down the cliff using the rope. Once the sack was on the ground, he climbed down, loaded everything, and headed for home.

When the gardener arrived home, he took the potted flower and placed it in his green house. There he nursed the plant and cared for it all of his days.

As the years passed the gardener gave the seeds of the flower to family and friends, and they in turn did the same. And in less than a generation you could see those very same flowers growing all over the countryside, in houses, gardens, and on porch planters. They were everywhere and they gave joy to all that beheld them.

JE Falcon

1984, Rew. 2011

Reviews

[Patricia Wedel]

dear JE.. you do leave us in
Suspense… wondering the name of the 🌸 flower…. The most unusual flowers I ever saw were high up on a Mountain the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia…. A Pink “Lady Slipper” and a Green “Jack in the Pulpit”. Amen gently, Pat

[JE Falcon]

Sorry Patricia, this is a parable and like the parable of the "Good Samaritan", we never get to know the name of the Samaritan, or in this case, the flower's name. :) Thanks for reading and have a great day.