I prayed
“Make me a vessel of the Divine.”
God laughed.
“That is like the rose asking me to make it a flower.”
Does the rose need my assistance to become a flower?
Which good works must it do to attain flowerhood?
All the rose can do is bloom, at its appointed hour
Unashamed to be a rose
unafraid to show her beauty.
Being only what she is.
You want to be a vessel of my love?
You are already that.
Now, bloom where you are planted
Be the variety of rose
Only you can be
In your garden, among the other flowers.
Some will show their thorns
They are as beloved
As those who perfume the world.
Stop looking outside yourself
Stop striving
The end of suffering is here
Closer than your breath
Will you give up all worlds
But this, appearing now?
Give up the search
Give up your longing
Be a rose.”