“God created the pink ones because He knows it’s your favorite color,” I whispered to my daughter before she twirled amongst the flowers.

We were visiting our local botanical gardens for the annual blooming of the daylily fields. Sprawling patches of blooms dazzled me, I couldn’t take it all in as quickly as I desired. The varieties were overwhelming—bold and muted colors, solid and patterned petals. And the scent! I wished I could build a small house right in the middle of it all.

An interesting fact about this variety of daylily is that the flowers only bloom for a single day, hence the name. The flowers open in the morning, bask in their beauty throughout the day, and then close, never to open again.

There’s something poetic about this natural order. After all, the life of the daylily bloom is a micro-illustration of our own lives.

Instead of chasing after that which the First Reading defines as “vanities” (Ecclesiastes 1:2), what if we were to spend our lives as the daylily?

What if we took full advantage of the one life we’ve been given?

What if we spent our days here stretched toward the heavens, completely open to all we encounter, displaying the beauty and love of our Creator?

What if we truly “numbered our days” (see Responsorial Psalm 90:12) and lived in the wisdom of the Holy Spirit?

After I sufficiently stopped my kids from their attempts to pick the flowers, I ushered them out of the gardens. I took one more look behind me and thanked the Father for giving us the daylily as a reminder of His kindness.

I want to live my life in a similar fashion, shouting for joy and gladness all my days (see Responsorial Psalm 90:14). May vanity, toil, labor, and fear never keep us from radiating the magnificence and brilliance of the Creator.

[bctt tweet="What if we took full advantage of the one life we’ve been given? // @to_the_heights" username="blessedisshe__"]

listen to today’s devotion

Learn more about flowers and their symbolism in Catholicism.