Enjoy the Irises

Of all the beautiful flowers of spring, my favorite is the iris. Until a few years ago, I thought most irises were purple, or purple and white. Then I was introduced to a place called the Presby Memorial Iris Gardens in Montclair NJ. The gardens contain over 10,000 irises in 3,000 different varieties and produces over 100,000 blooms through the seasom. It is an amazing place - there are purple, red, black, yellow, blue, and orange varieties - among many others. The place is a rainbow of color and an amazing place of beauty.

The iris is a delicate plant that lasts longer on the stem than when it is clipped and put in a vase for show. One day it is beautiful, the next day is it withered and dying. They don't last long - but while they do, they make the most of it.

Irises remind me that beauty can be fleeting, so it is important to drink it in while it is around. It is a life lesson for me. For surely like many of you, I walk too quickly through this life and miss so much of the beauty around me. That splendor is all around us in spring - with the weeping cherry on the green or the ornamental pears along South Street. But the truth is there is magnificence around us all the time - in the created world, in the people around us, even within ourselves.

The beauty is there in our own face and heart, in the hearts of others -- take some precious time to see it, drink it in, and thank God for such amazing grace!