This coming Sunday is Mother’s Day; just a head’s up if it may have slipped your mind. On that day millions of people are going to celebrate their moms and give them flowers. Flowers can be a weird gift. It’s like a joke I heard from a comedian whose name I can’t remember, “I love you, now watch these die.” No one actually thinks this when they give flowers as a gift, but cut flowers are never going to be a gift that lasts a long time. And maybe that is part of the symbolism we don’t even consider; I want to give you something beautiful even though I know the beauty is fleeting.
The time we share with the people we love mirrors this. We’ll balance the hard times and the good, and in the long run the ones that stick around lead to a magnificent experience of love. However as David reminds in Psalm 39:4-5 our time is limited.
4 “O Lord, make me know my end
and what is the measure of my days;
let me know how fleeting I am!
5 Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths,
and my lifetime is as nothing before you.
Surely all humanity stands as a mere breath! Selah
The world was around a long time before we came along, and should the Lord tarry, it will be around a long time after we are gone. Initially this could feel like a total bummer. We don’t like to think about a world without us in it. However, the reminder that our days are numbered should inspire us to live life to the full. Show love to the people around you with reckless abandon. Set your priorities in a way that adds more goodness to the lives of people around you.
Go buy those flowers for Mother’s Day or any day; give them with a message that shows how much you appreciate the time you have. Even though our time, like the flowers, will fade we can still go out and share the beauty of life with the world.