Peony season. A brief period, typically 7-10 days. If you blink, you could miss it. But catch a peony, or better yet, a bush full of peonies in bloom, and you are in for a real treat.
Billowy, soft, delicate, lush, glorious alone or when bunched together and displayed in a vase.
My Mom’s peonies are in bloom right now. We’ve enjoyed filling every bucket and bottle that we own and giving them away to friends and family, displaying them at my grandpa’s 80th birthday party and setting some out in every nook and cranny of our house.
We relish peony season. We relish it because unlike petunias or zinnias or marigolds or geraniums, peonies don’t last long.
As I woke up yesterday and saw a pile of peony petals scattered around the mason jar on my desk, I was reminded of this. I was reminded of something else too. A verse from Isaiah chapter 40,
“The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of our God stands forever.”
When I’ve read those words in the past, I’ve always concentrated my attention on the part that talks about the steadfastness of Gods word. And while I do think that is the primary focus, as I went to pick up the scraggly remains of the peonies on my desk yesterday, and watched as the rest of their petals fell as soon as I touched them, those words from Isaiah washed over me.
The flowers fade.
Sometimes, moments, seasons in life, and relationships are all like flowers. Sometimes, they fade. Some, like daylilies, withstand the test of time, and bloom again after the longest of winters, while others, like petunias, flower for a season and then pass on.
And then some, some are like peonies.
Glorious in their time, but oh, so brief.
As I reflect on the recent visit of my brother, I think of this.
My relationship with him used to be like an aster, one of the brightest and surest parts of my life. But now our time together is often like the blooming of a peony. It is wonderful, and I treasure it, but it passes by much quicker than I’d like. Truly, unless I am joyfully present in the moment, it can pass by altogether before I can grasp it’s beauty.
Hebrews 3:13 says,
“Encouarage one another daily, as long as it is called today.”
I don’t know what situations or relationships you might categorize as more aster-like or peony-like in your life, but I want to encourage you-
relish every moment, for the flowers do fade.
Relish your youth, or the job you love, the book you can’t put down, and the souls you love so dear. Take advantage of every opportunity you get to enjoy this summer season that’s upon us, to hug your family and friends and encourage them in the Lord. Treasure moments, for some become memories oh so soon.
We never know when the asters in our life will become peonies but we do know, that just as the grass withers, the flowers will fade.
Jim Elliot once said, “Wherever you are, be all there.”
Don’t wait for the blossom to wither to recognize the beauty of the bud. Moments do pass. The flowers do fade.
So we must treasure them, now.
