Last Friday through Monday, I was a commissioner to my denomination’s annual national gathering. We met on the campus of York University in Toronto. We almost always meet on college or university campuses, but the challenge this time is that the walk from the residence in which we were staying to the hall in which the Assembly was meeting was a solid kilometre. That meant building extra time into the journey to get from the dorm to breakfast and then to the hall.
As much as I need the exercise, though, I found it a nuisance to walk that distance a couple or more times each day…until Monday morning.
About fifty paces in front of me, I recognized a colleague, whom I know to be a gardener. At one point, she stopped in front of the law building, where there were some lovely white wild roses growing. She leaned into one of the roses, smelled it, paused, and continued walking toward the Assembly hall.
I was immediately convicted.
Where I saw an annoyingly long walk, she saw an opportunity – quite literally – to stop and smell the roses.
How often do we find such blessings amid the mundane tasks of life? They are there, if we will be alert enough to see them.
Every time I see white wild roses in the future, I think I will stop to smell them…and ask the Lord what he wants me to notice around all the busyness of the day.
“Look at the lilies and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are” (Luke 12.27, NLT).
