Friday, April 27, 2007

Enforced Secret Joy # 37 – Japanese Irises

These days, whenever I’m feeling on the blue side, I make sure I seek out a flower. Maybe it’s a chick thing, maybe because it’s really easy to find them at work, as I think it’s mandated by somebody that when you put enough concrete to fill the Super Bowl, you have to balance it out with grass and flowers.

But this particular Japanese Iris is among many that grow in my front yard. They came with the house, we didn’t have to cultivate them or anything. And as usual, I am gobsmacked by everything that’s going on in the middle of them. Whenever you feel like God has left the building, look at the inside of a flower.

Dear Lord, thank you for Japanese Irises. Thank you that I get to see them every day in my front yard. Thank you for their delicate snowy white petals, the splashes of yellow on the petals, the inner purple blossoms, and the amazing tiger striped markings that cap the whole thing off. I know tiger striped probably isn’t the right word, but You know what I mean. Thank you for beauty. Thank you for your attention to detail. Thank you that something so jaw droppingly amazing grows in my front yard, not because I asked for it, but probably because I didn’t ask for it. You like to surprise me, don’t You. Thank you for turning my head with such gorgeousness. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Amen.