Lesson from the Alpine Meadow

By: Lorraine Dick

Have you ever been to the alpine meadows? I was hiking through the back country at Big White, near Kelowna recently. As I rounded a corner – suddenly in front of me was a field of colour – red, white, yellow, blue, green – beauty that takes one’s breath away.  

The reds of the Indian Paintbrush, the white of the Yarrow, the purple and blue of the lupin, the green fronds left over from the Pasque flower and the purple asters all crowded into my senses as I looked out over the field in front of me.

What I quickly become aware of as I gaze over this splendor is that these flowers show their beauty for a very short time. And even to get to this beauty they have come through harsh times. The winter is grim and severe. Buried under mounds of snow, they wait and rest until the snow is gone. Then, with little soil, between rocks and around trees, they begin to show themselves. These flowers are not usually the ones that we find in our cultivated gardens at home. These are wildflowers – they come up at God’s will and bloom lavishly during the short spring and summer.

I tried taking pictures, but no matter how good the camera or the phone – those pictures do not do justice to the carpet of colour all around. Riding the chairlift to the alpine area, I noticed that the higher I rode, the more profuse the flowers. It was as if the harsher the terrain, the more beauty came out.

Solomon wrote about this time of year: “See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone. Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come, ….” Song of Solomon 2:11,12

Beauty and brevity are the marks of these flowers.

I saw the beauty of the flowers – but to get to that beauty these blooms come through low temperatures, a dry climate (in spite of the snow) and jarring winds. There on the hills almost above the tree line – they share their beauty with anyone who comes by for a look.

These flowers remind me of how I grow as a follower of Jesus. The beauty seen in our spiritual lives comes because of how Jesus guides our lives. We think that life should be easy – especially our spiritual lives. Quickly we discover that is not so. There are hardships, dry spells and jarring experiences that cause us to depend on God in new ways.

You may know the song “Let the Beauty of Jesus be Seen in Me”. Here is a verse that we don’t usually sing – but describes how we let beauty shine through in our lives:

When your burden is heavy and hard to bear,

When your neighbours refuse all your load to share,

When you’re feeling so blue, don’t know just what to do…

Let the beauty of Jesus be seen in you.

It is because of the harsh climate and adverse growing conditions that the flowers in the alpine show their beauty. It is because of the hardships of life that Jesus’ beauty shines through our lives. Let Jesus’ beauty be seen in you.