First, allow me to say that there are many occasions when leaving flowers at a grave is the right thing to do. Sometimes it is what a grieving heart needs to do. It is not wrong to bring flowers to the grave of a loved one.
This poem was inspired by an act of love that gave roses to grieving family and friends.
We had just finished the graveside service for Chuck Morris. After the pastor spoke the final "Amen," the eldest son of the family stepped forward, plucked the biggest red rose from the bouquet resting on the coffin, and offered it to his mother, who accepted it with gratitude and a hug. It was a quiet, beautiful gesture--and exactly what Mr. Morris would have wished for his wife in that moment. She then turned to the rest of us and invited each of us to take a rose. When I left the body of my friend at the grave on that steely winter day, my rose was a source of tender comfort to me. As I watched it bloom over the next weeks, a poem took shape.
This poem is written from the perspective of the one who has died and gone home to Jesus, and who now speaks to those friends still living on earth.
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Lay Not A Rose Upon My Grave
Lay not a rose upon my grave,
Dear friend, when I leave you
For judging twixt the two of us
I have the better view
In realms of pleasures evermore
Wrapped in Divine embrace
What earthen rose could e’er outshine
The Rose of Sharon’s face
But give the bloom to earthbound friends
And to their comfort see
With Jesus walking by my side
Eternal joys wait me
Please seek the welfare of my kin
Give them this flower of love
Pray that their eyes look up to Him
Who gives grace from above
Lay not a rose upon my grave
When from this earth I part
Friend, take and keep it for yourself—
A gift from Heaven’s heart
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