Day Three Hundred Fifty-Nine “Calla”
Due mostly to its ability to attract the attention of beholders and audiences who love its range of colors and shapes, this elegant flower has become a popular subject for painters and artists, Diego Rivera and Georgia O’Keefe among them. The delicate flower is lovely when part of a floral arrangement, or as a lonely, sleek, stand-alone. The calla lily, native to the typically tropical areas in southern Africa, is technically neither calla nor lily, but a stemless plant, a tuber, whose flowers and leaves rise directly from the root stalks, or rhizomes. The showy, trumpet-like bloom, which can be yellow, orange, pink, deep purple, red, or green, is not the actual flower, but a leaf called a spathe, with the actual flower being the yellow or orange spike buried in the middle of that spathe. But with all that said, the calla lily is a wondrous beauty designed by the hand of a masterful Creator.
Calla, meaning beautiful, was the name chosen for my first granddaughter, and beauty defines her. She is kind, bubbly, talented, and gorgeous, with those expressive big, brown eyes instantly drawing others to herself. But what I love about her name is the picture that it impresses in my mind, a picture of the rebirth of spring, youth, innocence, and those angelic trumpets heralding the victory of Christ on that resurrection morning.
The One, Who only days before was hailed as a king, would suffer arrest, scourging, humiliation, ridicule, and ultimately crucifixion, deemed a criminal. A royal title, “THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS,” would hang in mockery above His sacred head. And in that painful death, the Messiah would fulfill more prophecies in His death than He did in His life. As a Passover lamb, not a bone was broken, and as He surrendered to death, the veil of the temple would be “rent in twain from the top to the bottom,” opening free and unlimited access to God. He would be buried in haste, in a borrowed tomb, and mourned for three dark, dreary days. But glory to God, He would rise victoriously on that third day, a triumphant and glorious victory for every believer. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the supreme validation of His deity, proving His sinless character and divine nature, demonstrating that the Father accepted that sacrifice on our behalf. That, my friends, is the epitome of beauty.
My prayer for my beautiful Calla is that she will realize the significance of the resurrection of her Savior. I hope that as she thinks of that lovely trumpet-like flower, she will have in mind the rebirth that can take place in the soul of the one who anchors their life in Him.
John 11:25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.
Resurrection glory…what wonder and grace displayed to mankind!
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