Prime Forever

Lord, I don't want to be a faded flower -
Brown, tattered edges,
Petals falling
leaving a naked stalk,
Past prime.
I don't want to be a faded flower,
beauty gone,
strength waning,
a mind not quick to grasp,
Usefulness and purpose done.

How eagerly each blossom began as a bud -

impatient to open
and experience life,
straining towards the future
and all its promise.
The bud opened too slowly to suit me.
But petals do open,
unfolding life,
beauty, vibrant color,
awe-inspiring freshness.

Then prime passes, flowers fade,
petals drop,
are blown away.
Winter follows autumn
as surely as summer follows spring.
Life keeps unfolding, the cycle continues.
Sometimes I wish
life would end at prime.
But that's not how
You planned it.

Lord, how can I be a faded flower?
Your original plan
was life forever at prime.
But with sin came death
and faded flowers.
Yet death holds the seeds of a New Spring.
Now our glad hope
is to push through the soil
a second time, and
rise again to prime forever.
Lord, teach me how to be a faded flower,
to wait patiently
for Your new spring,
and to hold on to the hope
of Prime Forever.

Eleanor Braun

Written May, 2004