Just some early morning thoughts from me to you…
“I lift up my eyes to the mountains—where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.”
Psalm 121: 1-2 (NIV)
I wonder if you knew of the song before you knew of the flower.
Edelweiss. I certainly did.
I don’t remember exactly how I got there, but the chances are that I hitch-hiked. You could do that back then, in my high school days, without fear of adverse consequences. And since I didn’t get my driver’s license until I was nineteen, hitchhiking on this occasion was my only choice, rather than walking those fifteen miles to the theater in downtown St. Petersburg.
The ticket to the movie cost me a night’s wages from my dishwashing job at the all-night diner on the beach. Five dollars.
I was a seventeen-year-old junior in high school, as I sat there all by myself in a theater full of people captivated by the story line and music of the movie release of “The Sound of Music.” I’m not sure why I decided to go to see the movie, but obviously God knew, since it raised something inside me that day which inspired hope in a difficult and lonely time of my life.
And it does today, these many years later, especially the song— “Edelweiss.”.
The Edelweiss flower, to which the song refers, grows in the rocky limestone mountains of Austria, Switzerland, and Germany, at altitudes of 6,000 to 10,000 feet. The beautiful starry-shaped flower is centered within silvery-fuzzy leaves and can withstand temperatures to a negative 30 degrees Fahrenheit.
My best friend with whom I danced, studied and took walks, and who always stood up for me—in my last two years of high school as I worked numerous jobs to meet expenses of room, food, clothing, medical needs, etc., and splurging for a ticket to a movie—was the girl who would eventually take a major leap of faith and say “Yes” when I asked her to marry me.
And she still lets me in the house each day today, these nearly 58 years later.
It was the messages in that movie, and Lynda’s pure supportive friendship, the friendships of some students, teachers, a coach, and those who opened their homes to me back then, which all demonstrated to me the relationships God desires for us, and calls us to seek after and to build while blessing others as well.
Relationships symbolized by the history of the beautiful Edelweiss flower, growing out of rock within frigid temperatures, and the song and messages of the movie.
Messages such as embracing resilience in times of less and loss, hope in times of despair, enduring purity and love in truly God-ordained relationships, and embracing courage and strength in times of difficulty and uncertainty.
Relationships marked by some siblings with whom I shared the struggle of growing up, by Lynda’s dear family, dear friends through the years and today, and my precious current and expanding family, including our two granddaughters, who claim the song “Edelweiss” as “our song” because I rocked them, and sang that song to them when they were little and would visit with us.
The words to the song are simple. Reminding us through the symbolism and characteristics of the beautiful Edelweiss flower, that each day has a new morning greeting us, happy to see us, urging us also to bloom, and strive to grow forever.
And I will add, all supported by the relationships with which God blesses us, and places in our lives for good.
The movie and song touched something deep inside of me many years ago, as it still does today.
And on quiet new mornings and days like today, it reminds me to lift my eyes.
Try it. It will touch you also.
In His Name–Scott
Let me suggest that you start here, now, by listening to the scene in the movie “The Sound of Music” where Christopher Plummer (Colonel Von Trapp) sings “Edelweiss” with his family gathered around him.
You will be blessed.
