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Meditation on a Rose
Sr. Elizabeth Gibbons is a sister of La Retraite. She has spent much of her life teaching Infants and although is retired now contemplates the beauties of life, sometimes writing and sometimes painting what she sees. This poem was written after a liturgy in which she was given a rose to contemplate.
The Rose
I am gift, said the rose,
And I am symbol of gift.
Listen…said the rose,
I speak to you of gift,
Gift that dwells in your deepest being,
Gift whose name is love.
You are gifted, said the rose,
Gifted with many gifts –
Be glad and rejoice in them.
You grow old, said the rose,
Rejoice in the beauty of creation.
Be glad that you see.
Rejoice in sound, in music, in bird song,
In wind and water, be glad that you hear.
Rejoice in words and thoughts,
Be glad of your mind.
All this may fade, said the rose,
But, at the depths of your being,
love will be there,
Still there, the very life of your being.
All else may fade, but not love.
Love will be there.
Share it well, this precious gift.
Be awake, it grows through sharing.
Share it with all who come.
I am gift, said the rose,
Be gift too, he said.
Elizabeth Gibbons R.L.R. June 2008