Common Gum Cistus

This Common Gum Cistus I observed growing at Fountains Abbey. Its leaves are covered in a sticky, aromatic gum, and its 5-petalled, bowl-shaped flowers each last a single day. By the following morning, those little blooms I snapped would all be gone. Thankfully, new ones would have opened to replace those lost.

As well as a picture of man’s fleeting glory, we may see here a picture of the church of Jesus Christ. He takes away some, but raises others in their place. One day, from Salem Chapel I shall be called to glory, but my replacement the Lord will provide. Perhaps he is already being trained, or converted. Or not even born, depending on God’s good timing.