An Aesthetic Discourse.

A beautiful Hispanic woman, she grips the stem of a royal blue carnation. Running her hands through her son’s hair, she looks down at him, he up at her. Raising the flower, her eyes begin to tear up. She kisses the petals and tosses it into the wind. The river rushing below quickly pulls it away.

The second kiss belonged to her little boy’s forehead.

Northfield, Minnesota annually participates in a “Crop Walk” sponsored by Church World Service, an organization that “provides sustainable self-help and development, disaster relief, and refugee assistance in some 80 countries,” according to its web site.

While the event has goals to help other nations with disaster relief and development, it also helps to fight hunger in Northfield. Due to the loss of jobs in the Twin Cities, “there are many families who are choosing between food [and] rent,” and many of those in need have college degrees, said Jean Wakely, a Crop Walk volunteer and community member.

The walk lead to Bridge Square where the walkers were greeted with cheers, folk music, bongo beats, apples, water, and prayer flowers. Community members were joyful, dancing, singing and catching up with one another.

A few feet away the Cannon River’s edge struck a more somber tone while prayers were prayed and flowers, a symbol of those prayers, were then tossed into the current below.

Now it would be a mistake for me to assume that the woman I witnessed tossing her prayer flower was praying for her own personal situation, or that of someone close to her. Regardless, it brought tears to her eyes. This emotion, a truly rare and beautiful sight, lead me to grab a flower of my own.

Now, I’m not as religious as I once was, nor do I feel prayer will save me or the people whom I pray for. But her faith impacted me — and she doesn’t even know.