Flowers Are Useless

You can’t live in a flower. You cannot hop into a flower and take the kids to school. You can’t – with certain exceptions – EAT a flower. And, unless you happen to be Polynesian, you cannot WEAR a flower.

But for as long as we human beings have been what we laughingly call “civilized,” flowers have been a part of our lives.

Consider the paintings on the walls of an Egyptian tomb. They often depict both Pharoahs and Common Folk smelling lotus blossoms. Look at the inventory of grave goods from an archaeological dig and, chances are, you’ll find “Remnants Of Flowers” listed along with the necklaces, and axe heads and sandals. The little Inca Children that were brutally sacrificed on a mountaintop in the Andes a thousand years ago had flowers tucked into their woolen clothing.

And flowers maintain their place in today’s diverse “modern” society.

Can anyone ever forget the throngs of mourners lining the streets of London, tossing flower bouquets as Diana’s hearse carried her to her last resting place?

Consider the joyous look on the face of a beauty pageant winner, as she receives the celebratory bouquet of roses? Would it be the same with a necklace of iPods?

What about the guy on his first date that shyly hands his friend an inexpensive pink carnation? Would anyone suggest that he should have given her a One Dollar Bill instead?

What, then, is so remarkable about flowers? Why were they an integral part of all ancient societies? And why do they remain a part of the high-tech, fast-paced lives of today?

Simply put, flowers help us deal with situations that we do not understand, and all-too-often cannot control. And they do it in a way that no other item, whether made by God or by man, ever could… or ever will.

And maybe that’s not so useless, after all!