"THORNS HAVE ROSES"

(thoughtful ) Contributed by Ivie Bozeman

"Don't grieve that your roses have thorns.
Rejoice instead that your thorns have roses."

For many years I grieved because of the thorns in my life. Yes, there were a few roses, but I was so busy seeing the thorns I never saw them. One day, someone grew tired of my negative attitude and asked me "Why don't you give thanks that your thorns have roses?"

I was dumfounded. Never before, when looking at a rose, had I perceived that even though the rose bush had thorns and was ugly and spindly, it still produced a bloom of radiant beauty. "Why," I asked myself, "should I concentrate on the thorns when I could see the beauty instead?"

We can't change the reality that life is full of pain and suffering. Life has dealt some of us bad hands, but we can change the way we look at "bad luck." Our lives, for the most part, are governed by factors beyond our control, but we can control our attitudes.

The freedom to choose our thoughts is really the only freedom we have. God blessed America in that our forefathers recognized this when they drew up our constitution. It does not guarantee happiness, it does grant the right to pursue happiness through freedom of speech and religion.

We need to learn how to fail. It is not the failing that destroys, but how we handle the failure. Some people seem to be born winners. For most of us, failure will be a greater part of our lives than victory.

The same is true of pain, both physical and emotional. Pain is inevitable. The more we love and are involved with other people, the more pain we will have. The joy and love that comes from these relationships are the roses among the thorns. As we age, physical pain is inevitable. We can decide if the pain rules us or we rule the pain. Pain is a thorn,but if we rise above it, the roses there are sweeter and more fragrant because of the price paid for them.

The pessimist looks at the flower garden and sees the weeds growing. He looks at the clouds and despairs that it is going to rain. Two people can live in the same world with the same set of circumstances: for one, it can be exciting, joyous and hopeful. For another, it is a sorrowful, limiting and painful one. Each can view a rose. One sees a rose with thorns. The other sees that the thorns have roses.(JM)

Shared by Fr. Rick of Kingston, NY