This story may not help you much, in making your gardens grow,
There is much about growing a garden the writer does not know.
I hope the little story in rhyme that I will bring you here
Will help you to find more beauty in the flowers you grow this year.
I love flowers and use them often in these little rhymes I write
But always when I use them, I’m comparing them to life.
To be a splendid gardener has never been my goal,
Only that I might help the message of God’s flowers to touch the human soul.
Now I’ll tell you a little story that springs right from the sod,
‘Tis where the Mother’s name was Nature and the Father’s name was God.
They had a lovely daughter in the springtime of the year,
They named the baby Violet because her eyes were blue and clear.
Mother’s nourishment was poor and something must be done
So they called in Mrs. Rain as wet-nurse and with the help of Dr. Sun
Soon everything was lovely and again their hearts were filled with joy
When Mother Nature gave birth to a very lovely boy.
He was such a sturdy fellow, there seemed nothing that he lacked
And his parents decided that they would call him Jack.
But he was so pious for a boy, they said “a preacher he’ll become”
And soon as Jack-in-the-pulpit, he was known to everyone.
They had four lovely daughters they named June, Lilly, Rose and May
In the care of these splendid parents they grew more lovely every day.
They had another son a dandy fellow, strong as a lion
He had some good points, but got in mischief all the time.
Finally he gave his parents so much worry, with all his ugly deeds,
They had to turn him out with his friends that he called “weeds”.
I wonder if you’ve ever thought just how much these lives of ours,
Compare or resemble a mixed bouquet of flowers.
There are lives that resemble the Lily, Lilac and the Rose,
I’m sure there are lives that resemble almost every flower that grows
A life that’s filled with glamour, thoughtfulness or thrill,
Might be compared in turn with the Salvia, the Pansy and the Daffodil.
Now the Dahlia, the Zinnia, the Marigold, when I think of them
I find myself comparing them unto the lives of men.
They’re not dainty, sweet or fragrant, but strong and handsome, I would say
And necessary to both life and the garden to keep it bright and gay.
In our lives, as in our gardens, you will find a lot of Weeds,
In life I’d call them hate, selfishness, jealousy and greed.
As we weed out gardens we must weed our lives as well,
For no life or garden can be lovely where weeds are allowed to dwell.
While we plant a garden outside, we plant one inside too,
Sew it with seeds of loving kindness, ’twill bloom flowers of happiness for you.
And always remember in the garden outside and inside these homes of ours,
That Mother Nature’s Father is God and the children are the flowers.
