Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1913-09-10
The Influence of Flowers.

'Yes, flowers have tones. God gave
to each
A language of its own,
And bade the simple blossom teach
Wherever its seeds are sown.
What beauty one sees covering
the earth in mid-May! The tender
seaves have all the freshness of
Easter clothes. The meadows and
lawns wear their brightest livery of
emerald green. The flowers, in
their working garb of spring, firing
ed and dyed with the tints of the
rainbow, spread their brilliant hues
over all the landscape. With
all the fresh beauty around US, do
we ever stop to think what infu.
ences these thoughts of God should
have on our lives?
Can one conceive what humanity
would be if it did not know the
flowers?
The mission of the flower is
Christ-like, in more senses than one.
It points to God and surrenders it's
life in 30 doing, while breathing out
its brief existence in ministering to
man, From the buried seed new
incarnation springs. 1t grows and
expands joyously, under the infiu-
ences of sunshine and rain, until
it is cut down in its perfection
and it ends it's pure beautiful life.
So innocent and sweet is the min
istry of the flowers that every heart
must own its sacred influence. The
ministry of beauty is one of uni
versal sway. All hearts confess it,
and why should we not believe that
the most beautiful things, and the
most winsome that we have ever
looked upon, have been in Gods
thoughts, intended for purposes
more blessed than our thougEtless
hearts have known.
God might have bade the earth
bring forth
Enough for great and small,
The oak-tree and the cedar-tree
Without flower at all.
But He did not. He knew that
these tender messengers were
friends in disguise, and that the
heart of many wretched sinner
would be touched and perhaps led
mp to better things through them.
There is something inexpressibly
touching N the thought, that
through the ages of the past, sum-
mer and winter have come and gone,
and inevitably with the bursting
forth of spring have come back the
familiar faces of the sweet flowers.
Spring finds them where winter
lays them down, thus, good deeds
are the flowers of human life. Sea-
sons shall wax and wane, but the
good that men have done shall
spring up anew. For little while,
indeed, adverse forces may seem to
succeed in quenching the influences
for good; for little while winter
may hide away the seed, but Gods
hand shall wheel on the course of
time when the ages shall have ri
pened. The old Song of Solomon
shall be heard again upon the air of
spring: The winter is past, the
rain is over and gone, the flowers
appear upon the earth.
The flowers speak to us of the
Fathers love. How delicately each
petal is fashioned. All are beauti-
fully made after an invisible pat
tern in the Gardeners heart. Must
not the Father love the world to
make such exquisite things to beau
sify and adorn it? If God careth
80 much for tiny flower, how
much more does He care fer US.
Wherefore, wherefore were they
made,
All dyed with rainbow light,
To comfort man, to whisper hope,
Whene'er his faith is dim;
For who so careth for the flowers
VIII care much more for him.
This beautiful manifestation Of
;ife in the flower speaks to the sore
hearts of the tender care the Faith
er has over all. Its beauty and
perfection reminds the poor wan
derer OF all he has missed and 81
lently beckons him back to his
Father house.
Who has not been touched at the
sight of cluster Of roses crowded
close together. Surely this cannot
help but teach US the lesson of kind
ness. The flowers never quarrel.
They are always at peace. They
are NOT iealous of each others beau