Mother of the Evening

As I greeted folk arriving at chapel on Sunday, I was struck by large blooms of Dame’s Rocket growing in the hedgerows opposite. It is formally called Hesperis matronalis, or Mother of the Evening, for its scent is best enjoyed when the sun wanes.

The godless world we inhabit instructs us that youth is the prime of life. It is then that we are most lively and in rudest health. Yet older age is when we are often wisest and for the Christian, it is the threshold of heaven. Do not envy youth or regret its passing. Rather look ahead to what God has prepared for those who love him. Enjoy the evening of your days, for the great and endless morning will follow.