Dandelions

     The dandelions are back here in the fields around my home. My favorite flowers are always among the first to show up in Spring and among the last to leave in Fall. Their sweet, gentle beauty always warms my heart, delights my eye, and brings joy to my soul. They literally fill the lawns and meadows at this time of the year and continue on throughout the summer in spite of the countless attacks from lawn mowers and weed killers that they must endure.

     I have loved dandelions ever since I was a little boy. I can remember picking handfuls of them to give to my Mom and seeing her beautiful smile when she smelled their sweet fragrance. I can remember too gathering hundreds of their blossoms so that my Grandma could make her famous dandelion wine. I can also remember using all the air in my lungs to help flower after flower scatter its seeds to the winds. I can remember most of all, however, just lying in the grass surrounded by these tiny, golden suns and wishing that summer would never end.

     As I look out my window right now I can literally see thousands of these miraculous, little wonders sharing their beauty with the world. They remind me a lot of our own acts of love and joy. They are small but strong. They are sweet but hardy. They are simple but long lasting. They may seem tiny and insignificant by themselves, but if you fill a field or a life with them then Earth looks a lot more like Heaven.

     May your days always bloom with loving acts then. May your mind always blossom with joyous thoughts. May your heart always flower with compassionate feelings. May you always feel the love of God sprouting up within you and around you. And may you always make all your life as beautiful as a field full of dandelions.

~ Joseph J. Mazzella ~

[ by: Joseph J. Mazzella (joecool@wirefire) -- from 'Inspired Buffalo' (InspiredBuffalo@lighthouse.net) ]