"Once upon a time, in a faraway land, a young prince lived in a shining castle. Although he had everything his heart desired, the prince was spoiled, selfish, and unkind. But then, one winter's night, an old beggar woman came to the castle and offered him a single rose in return for shelter from the bitter cold. Repulsed by her haggard appearance, the prince sneered at the gift and turned the old woman away, but she warned him not to be deceived by appearances, for beauty is found within. And when he dismissed her again, the old woman's ugliness melted away to reveal a beautiful enchantress. The prince tried to apologize, but it was too late, for she had seen that there was no love in his heart, and as punishment, she transformed him into a hideous beast, and placed a powerful spell on the castle, and all who lived there. Ashamed of his monstrous form, the beast concealed himself inside his castle, with a magic mirror as his only window to the outside world. The rose she had offered was truly an enchanted rose, which would bloom until his twenty-first year. If he could learn to love another, and earn her love in return by the time the last petal fell, then the spell would be broken. If not, he would be doomed to remain a beast for all time. As the years passed, he fell into despair, and lost all hope, for who could ever learn to love a beast?"
Beautiful Belle was this such fair maiden who would learn to love this unkind, growling beast of a man. A princess in the truest form, if you will, Belle had become my role model. In the midst of such a materialistic, beauty-driven society, fairy tales like Beauty and the Beast, stories my aunt told me, and morals my mamma taught were shaping my heart, and I was being shown how to love from the inside out... rather than base opinions from the outer shell of a person.
Tonight, however, it is not of Belle's character that I wish to expound upon. No, there is something else to be pondered, which has nothing to do with Belle at all... but rather
The Enchanted Rose... You see, there was always something special about the enchanted rose in this story. Never had I seen one, though I knew they existed. And though I didn't know where to find one, I always wanted one. I had it all planned. When such flower would appear into my imaginative life, I would then proceed to place a beautiful glass covering to around it, protecting it from the outside elements of this cruel world. Forget a dozen roses from "Tall, Dark, and Handsome,"..... I wanted this One ENCHANTED Rose!
Before the Beast was given true love, he was given a rose... A rose to protect and to cherish, above all other things in the castle. This is evident because of the way he lost his temper so badly, his yelling causing Belle to ran away in fear! Clearly, this rose must have been extremely important...
Though this particular magical flower is entirely fictitious, I've come to the realization that in reality, I have been given an enchanted rose as well. In fact, many of us hold within us a single rose for us to protect...
Could it be True Love? "Twuu Wuve..." (I am now imagining an old, wiry-bearded man with an infamous lisp, and nasally voice performing a wedding ceremony for Princess Buttercup and Prince humperdink...though this is not the point I was trying to make. Sigh... ADD never fails to remind me of it's existence in my life...)
The point I do intend on making, is this:
For years, perhaps, we have watched as love passes us by. Our rose begins to wilt, and slowly, petal after petal fall from it's blossom. And we may wonder, "When will I fall in love?" But we must protect our rose. If we are so focused on our soul mate that we lose track of our soul's fate, what good is falling in love anyhow?
Like the beast, we have been given an enchanted rose. A rose of sharon, if you will. A relationship with the only perfect man we will ever encounter... revealing to us the truest love of all.
