The 100-Year-Old Rose Bush

2 Kings 19:30 – Once more a remnant of the house of Judah will take root below and bear fruit above. (NIV)

Driving with friends down some old back roads, I felt a kinship with the host of one of my favourite series on the History Channel, "In Search of…". I, too, was on a quest. I hoped to reconnect with the state in which I had been born.

On our journey, we visited many heritage museums, and often, the curators would tell us about other interesting places to see. Such was the case with the clock museum. Unfortunately, we found that its doors were locked. Looking at the gardens, I met a gardener who assured me the clock museum would soon be open.

As we visited, the gardener related that the rose bush, the roots of which she was attacking with a vengeance, had been planted by a pioneer woman over 100 years before. She said that it was now taking over her garden. I asked her where the roots would be planted. She said they would be discarded. "There is no-one left to care about this old rosebush," said the gardener. The family's youngest daughter, a nun, was then 90 years old, and she had been living in another state for many years.

My quest was at an end. I had found a connection to my home state. A pioneer woman has given me a talisman of love and faith. Some of the roots of her old rosebush have been planted in my backyard. Little green leaves are already growing on two of the branches, and like the "remnant of the house of Judah" it will "take root below and bear fruit above." When the first rose blooms, I will be reminded that the "Rose of Sharon" (Song of Solomon 2:1) is another name for our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Prayer: Thank You, Father, for the tie that binds all generations together in Christian love. Please help us in our lives, as in our gardens, to nurture flowers of faith. In Jesus' holy name, we pray. Amen.