For years an attentive woman had tended her rose garden, carefully pruning and maintaining her plants exactly the way her family had done for generations. Once a flower faded, she snipped it off just above a five-leaf cluster. All good gardeners knew this rule.
And then she was surprised to learn that this rule, like so many other scientific facts, had been updated. The new truth was that it didn’t matter where you snipped the stem; the rose would bloom again regardless. How could something she had believed all her life be replaced so suddenly?
But secular knowledge is like that. It is always subject to new, sometimes contradicting discoveries. One day we have nine planets, and the next day we have eight. One day fish is bad for you, and the next day it’s a wonder food.
The only truths that never change come from a higher source than human intellect: Love is the greatest healer. Kindness is never wasted. Faith can indeed work miracles. Forgiving others brings rest to the soul. Patience yields a harvest. Families are important. Prayer works. We can safely trust that new scientific discoveries will never make these most important facts outdated. Experience teaches that these universal truths will stand the test of time.
The longer we live, the more we see old customs and knowledge fall away, replaced by the latest expert advice. Instead of regretting the loss of old traditions, we can learn to see what the rose gardener saw—that every bloom is a fresh reminder that some things really are eternal and unchanging.
Program #4075