A Whiff of Wisteria

For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.  As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.  For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more.  Psalm 103:14-16

I smelled them before I saw them - a strong floral scent on the wind.  I looked around and didn't see anything that looked like it could be producing such a beautiful smell.  Then I looked up the road.  More than a block away, wisteria hung like clusters of grapes from a vine, high up in the trees.  The closer I got, the stronger the smell.  It was the first time I remember seeing so many of them growing wild.

I clipped one bunch of flowers and carried it home, placing it in a slender vase.  Within hours, however, the petals had shrivelled and died. 

They were so beautiful that the next day I returned to the tree-clinging wisteria vines to take pictures.  Once again I could smell them before I was even close.  Bumblebees buzzed among them, collecting their sweet nectar. 


I remembered the reminders from Scripture that our lives are temporary and short-lived.  We are like flowers of the field that (hopefully) give off beauty and sweet fragrance for a time and then are no more. 

Although the stem I had cut had withered and died, the scent was still there.  Gathering the petals together in a small bowl, I kept them by my computer so that I could catch a whiff of their sweet smell as I worked.


Lord, let my life be like these wisteria flowers.  Let it be a sweet smell to people around me.  Let it shout your amazing grace to everyone who stops to look at what You have done.  And when my life is over,  let it linger on for a while as a testimony to Your glory, creative wisdom, and power.