Sunflowers

There are many symbolic meanings for the sunflower, depending on your heritage, and beliefs. Most common is focus on beauty, delight, hope, and joy. Sunflowers are a happy flower indeed. They are also symbolic of spiritual faith and worship because the sunflower moves to face the life-giving sun.

There are many reasons sunflowers have always been special to me. The obvious is that I’m from Kansas and this happy cheerful flower represents our state. As a child my Grandmother used them as a symbol, a teaching tool to help me better understand life’s twists and turns. Through her instruction and loving guidance I was able to appreciate the ups and downs that shape who we are to become as we look for and follow God’s “Son” Jesus.

Like the sunflower, there are times we lose sight of our SON. When that happens our faces will also turn downward; our spirits and hearts and filled with sadness, grief, and sorrow. Perhaps the sunflowers are twisted because they become consumed with fear, worry and sometimes even hopelessness. I have seen sunflowers that are so badly twisted they have cut off the strength and sustaining nutrients from their own stock, leaving them drooping and unable to raise their heads to reach the sun they so desperately need to survive.

This was true of a close friend whose husband had died and she joined our widows’ group. Some of the widows were seasoned and settled in their lives. They were helpful guides. We would gather for lunch or dinner to encourage and support each other by talking and finding ways to re-engage in life. Of the eight friends, seven of us were on a successful path of moving forward from Wife to Widow – all except one who could not find a way to hope and her future. Sadly she died six months later.

I looked hard to find the good that came from that loss; it was the grief and sorrow of losing a dear friend that led me to form Widow’s Talk. Together we learned to keep our eyes turned upwards, sharing and caring for each other, providing encouragement, inspiration, and education. These essential ingredients are what I feel is needed to move forward to celebrate the life we have left to live as we move from Wife to Widow.