The Flower Fadeth

Last night our Night Blooming Cereus opened.

About 35 years ago my mother gave us this ugly plant. The tropical cactus resembles a dead bush most of the year, but when it blooms, the flower is called The Queen Of The Night.

Rightly so.

Each blossom measures from four to ten inches across. They begin to open after dark. The buds open fast enough for you to see the movement. Fully open the flower spreads a haunting aroma which permeates the whole neighborhood. Then the flower fades to a limp dangle before the sun rises.

The beauty lasts but an instant, a single night.

Here is the progression:

The bud curves up:

It starts to open:

In the night it spreads fully:

Then the flower fades to a limp dangle as soon as light touches it:

The beauty of that flower is lost forever.

Reminds me of an erection.

Also reminds me of the Scripture which says, “All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field: The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the Spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand forever”.

Usually on the night our Queen of the Night blooms, Ginny and I sit on the back deck in the moonlight watching the flowers open and fade as we think and touch and talk quietly. But last night was too rainy ,so we just darted out now and then to take photos in the dark.

My friend Wes came over for breakfast. We broke out a dictionary and had a great time talking about words and pronunciation. We chewed over words like poignant, harassment, and paradigm — a fascinating conversation.

We also talked about how our love and enthusiasm for Christ has dimmed over the years since we first became believers.

Wes just returned from a trip out to the Mississippi Gulf Coast. On his way back, he stopped off in the town where he’d been to school 25 years ago.

He found his school closed and a new one opened in those buildings.

He went to the student hangout he’d enjoyed so much.

Found it boarded up.

He drove out to the lonely beach where he and his friend used to go to talk amid blowing sea oats and soaring gulls.

He found strip malls, casinos, burger stands, tourist traps, and ticky-tacky condos — instant development and decay.

He said it all makes him weary.

You can’t go home again.

Yes, the flower fadeth.

But the Word of God stands forever.