"out of the ground
the Lord God made every tree grow
that is pleasant to the sight"
Genesis 2:9
There's a tree growing in our front yard. Well, actually there are four. Well actually, that's not true either. We have four trees in our front yard, but only three are growing there. One is just standing there, standing in perpetual tribute to winter.
How's that for a light-hearted view of a dead tree?
Two are Birch trees. I love Birch trees, with their white bark and delicate leaves. One is a Red Ash, which we bought because it was a good price, and because baseball bats are made from Ash trees, and we love baseball. It's the tallest tree we've got, although you probably wouldn't find the height all that impressive. But we planted it ourselves, so its health and height are personal to me.
The fourth tree is not with the others, because we didn't plant it. And I'm not sure what kind of tree it is. It just sprouted at some point.
In other words, it's a weed.
Our neighbors have one in their yard, too, that they didn't plant. I guess whatever kind of tree it is, it grows well here. Or there was one in the area in the past, and its seeds are still viable. And for some reason, instead of yanking the one in our yard, we've let it keep going.
A weed, to you and me, is unwanted, unplanned. Something that's not in our overall scheme. If we give weeds any thought at all, it's how to prevent them. But every plant that exists, God created. He knows each of them, and He knows where they're going to grow. And He always has.
We try very hard, in lawns and in life, to prevent and eliminate the unexpected. But often we're so focused on controlling the world around us, that we're not appreciating what God has brought. We think only thing the things we've orchestrated should be part of the mix. But just because we didn't know it was coming, doesn't mean it shouldn't be part of our life.
Go with the flow.
Live and let live.
Bloom where you're planted.
And let a few things that you haven't planted, bloom, too.
~ "Be still,
and know that I am God" ~
Psalm 46:10
~
The local Saturday morning gardening guy on the radio around here said something a couple of weeks ago that struck me. He said that nature likes variety and likes to have a lot of things mixed up together, like a field of grass and different kinds of wild flowers, and that is why weeds want to grow in our perfectly manicured lawns -- because nature likes it that way -- and it is only we human beings who want to have these broad expanses of green lawns consisting of one variety of plant only. It struck me that he spoke truth and that this was also probably one reason that things like racial segregation and homophobia and even the idea of "a regenerate church membership" (when Jesus said, "let the wheat and tares grow together") have existed for so long. People are fighting against the natural scheme of things.
ReplyDeleteIn the preceding paragraph, substitute "God" and "God's" for "nature" and "the natural"....
Very interesting indeed. And well put. Thank you for sharing!
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