The Unexpected Gift

Isn't it funny...you look on the externals of a thing and base your expectations of the total experience on first impressions.Regardless of how many times we are surprised not to find it so,our evaluation process rarely changes . A case in point is my cactus .Now,your first impression is a desert,spikey,sandy-soil type thing. Many cacti are just such plants as you envision .My cactus,however,is an epiphyllum or cactus lily. It is quite primitive looking,with no leaves at all,but stems that flatten from time to time on their way back to being stems again . That such a thing could flower at all seems unlikely and there you are again,jumping to wrong conclusions .This cactus does indeed flower,but only once a year,only at night and only for one night ! The journey to greatness begins with a spikey, oval growth that sprouts from the side of a leaf. Nothing conventional here !The dusty,lavender something grows daily until about two inches long and begins to swell,the downward facing bud then switches direction .The pointed end begins to open,its slow motion ballet finally revealing an eight inch bloom of such exquisite form and intoxicating fragrance that dazzles all but the most jaded. Inside this miraculous flower are seemingly hundreds of thread-like stamens anchored back in the throat,sweeping forward to surround the anther,that looks like a ten-legged starfish of delicate white .The entire flower is ethereal,like a waterlily translated to another reality,and yet the fleeting life span of this beauty seems unfair.Tomorrow, the flower will resemble a cast off ball gown,a shadow of tonight's glory.Yet it is the very transient nature of it that inspires awe for the Creator who designed it and brought it into being . How much of life is overlooked,unappreciated ? The lesson of the epiphyllum is to seize the night,invite friends for a spur-of-the-moment party to recognize and celebrate another of life's unexpected gifts .