Parable of the Rose
It is not recorded in scripture. Christ never uttered it as such but it is evidenced in every word he spoke, in every deed he performed.
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 he neglected to water the rose, and before it was able to bloom, it died.
So it is with many people. Within every soul there is a rose-the Godlike qualities planted in us at birth-growing 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 possibly 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 Savior’s greatest characteristics was that he was able to show people the kingdom of heaven within then. He was able to reach past their thorns and show them the rose.
This is the characteristic of love-to look at a person and, knowing his faults, recognizing the nobility in his soul, and help him realize he can overcome his faults. If we show him the rose, he will conquer the thorns, then will he blossom, bringing forth thirty, sixty or a hundred-fold as it is given to him.
Our duty in this world is to help our brothers and sisters by showing them their roses and not their thorns. Only then can we achieve the love the Savior wants us to feel for each other; only then can we become perfects as he wants us to be and blossom in the garden of his Father.
