What a Fine Thing a Rose is

First off, hello readers! I am finally giving in to what my family has been telling me for the last few weeks and creating a blog. I guess we'll see where we go from there. These are going to be some random ramblings as the title indicates, but I thought that this first post would be to explain the blogspot address. In case you didn't see it because you followed this from facebook, it is    whatafinething.blogspot.com   


The reason for this comes from a quote that I read earlier on in the week. This quote is by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in one of his Sherlock Holmes mysteries. Now, I love the Holmes stories anyway; the analytical mind, the unexpected twists, and the total dedication to solve the mystery. This cynical hero was so well loved in his time that when Sir Arthur Conan Doyle ended (or so he thought) Holmes' life, people were seen weeping in the streets, and men went to work with black, mourning arm-bands on. This information is found in the copy of the Holmes Treasury which I am now enjoying. Anyway, back to the reason for the title. The quote that so interested me is found in The Adventure Of The Naval Treaty. 


Holmes, picking a rose from the bush remarks, "What a lovely thing a rose is! There is nothing in which deduction is so necessary as religion, it can be built up as an exact science by the reasoner. Our highest assurance of the goodness of Providence seems to me to rest in the flowers. All other things, our powers, our desires, our food, are really necessary for our existence in the first instance. But this rose is an extra. Its smell and its colour are an embellishment of life, not a condition of it. It is only goodness which gives extras, and so I say again that we have much to hope from the flowers."


The reason that I find this so interesting is that we see what many consider to be the most analytical mind in history (despite the fact that Holmes did not exist; he was based on the then Dr. Doyle's professor, Dr. Joseph Bell). We see what the world considers to be a great thinker, and he states that religion is actually an exact science. Now, I hate the word religion because it is primarily dead, useless rituals. It is only a personal relationship with Jesus Christ that really matters. The point here though is that despite what the world thinks, that science is everything, and God is nothing, it is proven that God is alive through even the smallest of things.


That unnecessary rose, the inconsequential stars, the unneeded galaxies, and even the colours of the world around us. There is no need for the beauty that this world holds. We could very easily have nothing more than a blank, white, hospital room world. That isn't what we have though. Because God loves us, and created this world for us, He made it beautiful. He made it to be something that we enjoy, but He also made these unnecessary things so that we can see His hand at work. 


As the quote says, "This rose is an extra." It is in the extras that we truly see the artistry and care of God. Maybe you've heard the saying, "Stop and smell the roses," but I think that instead it should be, "Stop and notice the roses." Notice the colour, the smell, the delicate construction of it. Does that really look like something that randomly developed? It certainly doesn't to me. 


So, this has been my first post. I hope you all enjoyed it, but if not, it gave voice to my ramblings, so perhaps it will help stave off a total overload of my brain. (Joking by the way). Stay tuned for further ramblings, and remember what a fine thing a rose is.