Whispers of the Little Flower (1)

Did you really think that Cur Deus Homo was going to be my holiday reading assignment? Well, I believe Anselm can still afford to give me a little bit of his patience for now. Right now, I am in the midst of chewing (not literally) the autobiography of St Therese of Lisieux titled Story of a Soul. I came across this name when I was going through the name list of the saints who were proclaimed as Doctors of the (Roman Catholic) church. St Therese of Lisieux caught my immediate attention because she was the latest addition to the list and she only lived for twenty four years. I was so eager to know how on earth could a young lady who only spent twenty four years on earth be placed together with the giants of the Church, such as St Augustine, St Basil the Great and St Thomas Aquinas. That was what brought me to the reading of her autobiography, and I am deeply inspired and encouraged by what I have read so far. I hope that through a reflective reading of her autobiography, my spirituality can be deepened and enriched. May God help me.

Yet, how could I ever forget my readers? As a reward for your faithful visit to my blog, I will be posting up some of her sayings (once in a while) from her book which have made a deep impact upon me, with the additional bonus of some reflections from yours truly. I pray that you may also be greatly blessed by her words. These are her words:

He showed me the book of nature, and I understood that every flower created by Him is beautiful, that the brilliance of the rose and the whiteness of the lily do not lessen the perfume of the violet or the sweet simplicity of the daisy. I understood that if all the lowly flowers wished to be roses, nature would lose its springtide beauty, and the fields would no longer be enamelled with lovely hues. And so it is in the world of souls, Our Lord's living garden. He has been pleased to create great Saints who may be compared to the lily and the rose, but He has also created lesser ones, who must be content to be daisies or simple violets flowering at His Feet, and whose mission it is to gladden His Divine Eyes when He deigns to look down on them. And the more gladly they do His Will the greater is their perfection.

Reflection
Unfortunately for many of us, the building blocks of our self-perception come not from God’s view of us, but from anyone and everyone else’s perception of us. As a result, we are constantly trying to present an impressive but hypocritical front to others, hoping that we will succeed in convincing others of how good we are, and hence, convince ourselves of how good we are. Therefore, we make sure that our positive efforts and contributions will not go unnoticed by others, lest we feel that our efforts are meaningless. Our hearts scream for significance and recognition from others. Without them, we feel useless. Thus, a follower, a subordinate or a person working behind the scenes is much more trying to be than a leader, a superior or a person in the limelight. The latter’s efforts are often seen by many, thus he is always at the receiving end of compliments; whereas the former’s efforts, which play a pivotal role in complementing the latter, often go unnoticed.

Yet, the words of St Therese are encouraging, especially to the former. Each person plays a different role in the Lord’s living garden, as she describes. The role of the ‘lesser ones’ is equally important and significant as that of the ‘greater ones’. Thus, if I was made to be a violet or daisy, I pray that God will teach me to be content and thankful of the role that I play in his garden. Even if my contribution may go unnoticed or be labeled as insignificant in the eyes of the world, or even among fellow believers; may I be reminded of my significance in God’s eyes, for this is the role that he has created for me.

May I be the flower that God has created me to be and be contented.

Will this be your prayer as well?