Roses and Thorns

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A certain man planted a rose and watered it faithfully, and before
it blossomed, he examined it. He saw the bud that would soon
blossom and also the thorns. And he thought, "How can any
beautiful flower come from a plant burdened with so many sharp
thorns?" Saddened by this thought, he neglected to water the
rose, and before it was ready to bloom, it died.

So it is with many people. Within every soul there is a rose. The
God-like qualities planted in us at birth grow amid the thorns of
our faults. Many of us look at ourselves and see only the thorns,
the defects. We despair, thinking that nothing good can possibly
come from us. We neglect to water the good within us, and
eventually it dies. We never realize our potential.

Some people do not see the rose within themselves; someone
else must show it to them. One of the greatest gifts a person can
possess is to be able to reach past the thorns and find the rose
within others. This is the characteristic of love, to look at a person,
and knowing his faults, recognize the nobility in his soul, and
help him realize that he can overcome his faults. If we show
him the rose, he will conquer the thorns. Then will he blossom,
blooming forth thirty, sixty, a hundred-fold as it is given to him.

Our duty in this world is to help others by showing them their
roses and not their thorns. Only then can we achieve the love
we should feel for each other; only then can we bloom in our
own garden.

Author Unknown