Flowers and Daisies

Once there was a boy who loved to pick flowers. He wished he could pick all the flowers in the world. He knew he could not do this, but it did not make him sad. There were flowers everywhere, more than he could ever pick. And anyway, it would not be good to pick all the flowers in the world. For there must always be flowers growing in the fields. Flowers charm the earth, and they wish to be in the company of other flowers. One day the boy came across a Daisy. It was his first Daisy. It was the most beautiful flower he had ever seen. The boy decided not to pick the Daisy. Instead, he would let the Daisy grow. And grow. And grow. And live until a ripe old age. And then lay down to die, giving birth to new Daisies. The Daisies yet to come. The boy thought there was something special about the Daisy. That of the flowers in the world, it was the most extraordinary. The most extraordinary flower that has ever been. He knew that this might not be true. Afterall, there were flowers he had never seen before. And no matter how long he lived, he would never see them all. But the boy was right. This Daisy, like all Daisies, was extraordinary. Because the Daisy is a perfect flower. It has always been a perfect flower. Daisies do not change. They have never changed. There is no reason for them to change. They are immune to the laws of natural selection. They are faultless, unblemished, and without sin. They are the archetypal flower. Do the Daisies know this? That is hard to say. Who knows what Daisies think? And why the Daisy? Of all the flowers in the world, why should the Daisy alone be perfect? Was it the will of God? No. Was it their destiny? No. Were they lucky? Perhaps, if it pleases you to think of things this way. But really it was happenstance. Pure happenstance. And that is the most beautiful thing of all.