I enjoy poetry   So much is said in amazing ways. Robert Frost is one of my favorites.

In Robert Frost’s poem “Tuft of Flowers,” he paints a rural scene of a man setting out to complete farm duties. Another man, a co-laborer, had mowed the grass earlier in the day, but when the speaker in the poem surveys the work, he sees a butterfly drifting nearby and wonders why it is looking for flowers among freshly cut grass. That is when he notices it–tufts of flowers that were left untouched by the scythe. As Frost wrote: “I left my place to know them by their name / Finding them a butterfly weed when I came. / The mower in the dew had loved them thus, / By leaving them to flourish, not for us, / Nor yet to draw one thought of ours to him. But from sheer morning gladness at the brim” (Selected Poems of Robert Frost, Fall River Press, 2017, p. 33).  

In this patch of flowers is an unexpected beauty; milkweed plants that made the other man pause in his morning duties to admire their glory.  Even the lowly weed reminds of God’s creative power. The mower had left them to be admired even among the flowers.

Many of Frost’s poems capture this sense of hidden beauty among the wild growth of nature. Wildflowers grow unnoticed until seen by a surprised onlooker.

Jesus’ parable likewise draws upon the beauty of wildflowers. He turns the audience’s attention to the lilies of the field and how they grow without any additional striving. God, in His kindness and wisdom, has adorned the grasses of the field in this way, providing lovely clothing to nature. His words echo what He said earlier about the birds of the air, who do not store up food for the future yet are still fed.” (Matthew 6: 26,27)

Our Lord used these examples to remind us of practical spiritual truths. God clothes the fields and feeds the birds, so why do we worry incessantly about these parts of life? Our anxiety could be eased if we paused to notice the wonders around us, especially those hidden beauties of daily life that teach us valuable lessons about the Lord’s caring provision. Around us is a world of reminders of God’s love; yet, too often, we turn a blind eye to their testimony.

What might happen if we started to pause and consider the hidden wonders around us. Does this mean we will never worry about our life? Paying our bills? Keeping up with our body’s needs? No!

But we will be more focused on Jesus’s advice to notice the everyday beauties around us.  To be more aware of the many blessings He has already given to us.

All because of the testimony of a growing flower, chirping bird, or a rainy day.
                                                Our Hidden Blessings