Earthward journey!

The rose flowers droop earthwards when they age! The buds are upright and agile!

There are seasons in the life of rose flowers. From the early stage of being buds to becoming blossoms!

The rose flowers bring fullness through colour, fragrance and aesthetic sense when they become part of a flower arrangement. The petals fall on the ground and get integrated with the earth when the time for the flower has come to return to the earth.

All fo us too have our birth and death and between these two existential realities we too live our lives altruistically and vicariously. When our time has come for departure we too return to the earth leaving memories and anecdotes for others to remember and behold!

This earthward bent that occurs when a rose flower ages, is a symbol of some significance to me.

Now that I am in the seventh decade of my life I can sense how this consciousness is bringing a new awareness about life. 

Life is shorter than ever before, when I consider my age. However the the chronology of life consisting of days, months or years are not just natural pathway of life, but an opportunity to live fully alive!

The earthly bent is not a death bent attitude at all!

The earthly bent is to live conscious of others who are also on this earthly journey! They too have their young and old seasons in the chronology of life. But together we share our journey in becoming authentic in thought and action. 

The colour, fragrance and aesthetic gift of the rose flower while it is earthly bent is life giving to others. 

To live well is to accept the natural earthly bent in our journey in the latter phase of our life and live each day with a freeing spirit from fear of departure and celebrating life with others in a relational way. 

Life is for  Living, Learning and Serving as long life unfolds before us. 

Bud or flower would not be the issue, because both represent life to live, learn and serve. 

In our earthward journey, it is our fellow pilgrims we meet and they become the reason for our living!

Life is for making joy compete in the lives of others. 

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)