Thorn of Humanity -- Short Stories
As a continuation of the Thorn of Humanity series, I presented another illustration of the greatness of Christ as revealed by thorns in the short story of The Nightingale and the Rose.The Nightingale and the Rose
This short story was written by Oscar Wilde, a Romantic writer from the late 19th century. In short, the nightingale overhears a young man's angst over a lady as he laments the fact that he has no chance to dance with her for lack of a red rose. Determined to facilitate true love, she sets out to find a red rose for the young man. After some searching, she finds a red rose bush. The only problem is that the bush is not flowering. In fact, the only way to get a red rose was to make one.The nightingale must sing her most beautiful songs all night long with a thorn puncturing her breast. It is the blood that gives the red rose its color. The nightingale gives her life to create a rose for love.
Applied to Christ
Sacrificial love is the summation of Christ's mission on this earth. He took on the thorn of humanity & left it in the grave. Christ, whose life was like a beautiful love song, gave that life up for man. Granted, this story falls short in many ways towards the end, but it describes Christ's sacrificial love perfectly at this point. Consider the very definition of sacrificial love:Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. -- John 15.13 NKJV
More Reading
Thorn of HumanityThorn of Humanity II
Thorn of Humanity III
