There is a rare tree in Florida called a Shaving Brush. It likes the benefit of other trees in its periphery—it has no leaves and does well with a protective surround. The Shaving Brush has a slender trunk and a smooth bark, hushed and hidden, behind its asymmetrical visage that fades into other foliage. It grows slowly. Tending a Shaving Brush is an exercise in uncertainty because you never know what it needs.

But one day, only once a year when least expected, this tree produces a bright pink blossom closely resembling a large shaving brush. It emerges from a pod that peels back during the night. It is prolific during its blooming period, nocturnally producing dozens of blossoms that have a slight, almost undetectable fragrance. In the morning, these brilliantly colored and graceful flowers, reach toward the sky in some sort of mystical offering, unanticipated and perfect. By day’s end, the blooms fall to the ground, and the Shaving Brush pods lay dormant for another year.

How many people do you know are like the Shaving Brush? Their daily presence gently whispers, “I am here.” They grow, unnoticed but comfortable within themselves in a knowingness that communes with a Divine rhythm. Never announced, they are an exotic discovery only to the most perceptive. And, in their quiet language, their resplendent contribution changes our perception of what is.

Take time to notice the Shaving Brushes in your life. They exist everywhere, hidden tokens of Divine perfection, in the form of our children, our beloved pets and in the store clerk down the street. In their innate wisdom, they are so very full of grace. Our lives would not be as enriched without those who bloom quietly and unannounced. They leave us our own room to grow, and occasionally remind us that life’s treasure is often concealed.•