Love is a Rose

Love is a rose but you better not pick it,
It only grows when it's on the vine.
A handful of thorns and you'll know you've missed it,
You lose your love when you say the word 'mine.'
--Neil Young

Love is not possessive. Love does not grasp or take. Love is a gift of beauty from God. It is a beautiful rose that unless connected to God, cannot grow, cannot blossom, but rather dries up. When you reach to pick that rose, two things can happen. Either you miss the love altogether and end up being hurt by the thorns of lust, or you do get your hand on the love, but your lust detaches it from God, and its life and beauty is taken out of it. This is so important for courtship. Each person is a rose. He or she can be admired and loved, but if one goes to pick it to take home, if one tries to possess the other as an object, then the thorns will prick and the love will wither.