Two men, a hearse, and a dumpster. This strange combination got my attention.
Though I was hardly stealthy in a blue minivan with squeaky brakes, I slowed down to watch them.
Years of reading murder mystery novels had my imagination on overdrive, so I watched them suspiciously while the Mission Impossible theme song played in my mind.
After looking around furtively, the dark-suited men opened the side door of the shiny hearse that was parked nearby. The men reached in and grabbed six enormous flower arrangements. Dozens of brightly colored roses, tulips, lilies, and hydrangeas were pitched unceremoniously into the dumpster. They emptied the hearse of them, scattering their petals in the parking lot. When they were finished, they slammed the lid on the dumpster, and sped back to the funeral home around the corner.
The dumpster was behind the church offices where I had stopped to give a friend of mine a donation for her run in the Boston marathon. Afterward, I buckled my four-year-old in her car seat and turned the
van around the circular drive to leave.
Behind the church I came upon the two men in dark suits dumping the bouquets.
Though their behavior wasn't necessarily criminal, it was disturbing. I imagined the friends and families that spent hundreds of
dollars on these arrangements to honor and mourn their loved one. These flowers
had been painstakingly cultivated and arranged to be appreciated at an important
occasion. Their vibrant beauty lay in the trash, waiting to go to the landfill. I wanted to do
something about it.
“I’m hungry, Mommy. Can we have lunch?” my daughter asked
from the backseat of the van.
“In just a minute, honey. Mommy has to do something.”
“Do something.”
I repeated to myself. What could I do? I turned the car around. As I drove
closer, this is what I saw.
the sliding door to the dumpster.
It was mostly empty, except for the perfect arrangements
sitting innocently in the dark.
I imagined jumping in the dumpster and pulling out all the
flowers to make little arrangements and give them to nursing home residents—or offer
lovely flowers at random to people walking by. Rationale spoke to me about the realities of climbing in a dumpster while my child patiently waited in the van.
Beauty is not a thing to be wasted. It is a gift, temporary and fragile- to
be appreciated in time, before it is gone. Life may be a race, a sprint or a
marathon—depending on how you run it.
Appreciate the moments in time as they happen, and remember
them when they are gone.
Life, like flowers, has a short blooming season. Don't throw it away. Grab it
while you can. Live every minute.
The life of mortals is like grass,
they flourish like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone,
and its place remembers it no more. But from everlasting to everlasting
the LORD’s love is with those who fear him,
and his righteousness with their children’s children— with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts. Psalm 103:15-18
they flourish like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone,
and its place remembers it no more. But from everlasting to everlasting
the LORD’s love is with those who fear him,
and his righteousness with their children’s children— with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts. Psalm 103:15-18
