The First Baptist Church of Redlands
TA PE S T RY Woven Together In Love: Colossians 2:2
FEBRUARY 2016
ISSUE No. 2
A MESSAGE FROM PASTOR RICHARD
Thorns and Roses Recently, I had a wonderful California experience. Thanks to Ed Irvin, who is an excellent “Tournament of Roses Parade” tour guide, I went to see the parade. The magnificent flowers, especially the roses, displayed with so many different themes and in so many different ways are certainly something very special to see. Ever since I was a little child I have had a love of roses and I would visit my father who had a rose garden on a plot of land right in the city of Bayonne, New Jersey that was directly across from New York City. These visits occurred during what was a difficult time for our family. My mother had died when my sister and I were very small children, so we were reared by an aunt and uncle in Pennsylvania. Because of this, it was a real treat when we would go and visit our dad. Spending time in his rose garden was almost magical for me, dozens of rose bushes and so many varieties with special names. Of course, the rose is one of the most popular flowers. It has been a favorite of poets and romantics at heart for a very long time and one of the most popular symbols of Valentine’s Day, which we celebrate this month.
There are several legends about the Valentine Rose. One tells that once Cupid was carrying a vase of sweet nectar to the gods on Mount Olympus and some nectar spilled on the ground. From the spot where the nectar fell, there emerged the beautiful Rose flower. Another tells that once a beautiful maiden by the name of Rodanthe was pursued by several passionate suitors. In their desperate pursuit, they broke the doors of
...life is not only filled with roses, things that are beautiful, but also thorns, things that are painful.
Rodanthe’s house. That so enraged the goddess Diana that she turned Rodanthe into a rose and her suiters into thorns. Roses and thorns. How familiar. We all know about them. I remember one time when I was about 10-yearsold, I went to pick a rose from a bush in my father’s rose garden and pricked my finger on a thorn. Oh, how it hurt and bled. Of course, I yelled and my father, coming to my aid, also taught me a lesson. He said that life is not only filled with roses, things that are beautiful, but also thorns, things that are painful. He then told me that what makes the difference is what we do about them. As a child, I did not understand it but after a lifetime of experiences, now I do. In the New Testament we read about a man who experienced many wonderful things. His name was Paul. He had so many “roses experiences.” Imagine encountering the risen Christ face to face. However, he also had trouble with a thorn in his life. He said, “A thorn was given to me.” We don’t know Continued on Pg. 7