WEEDS

Drawing By Jonathan Cooke '98

I was thinking about weeds – do you ever think about weeds? Goats are good at weeds. They love to eat vines, thorny bushes, and all kinds of weeds. You just can’t top a large herd of goats for weed control. Unfortunately the home owners associations of our land do not allow goats in the burbs. So one needs to take time to weed regularly pulling weed seedlings early before they establish themselves and begin to compete with your plants for valuable resources. For mature, perennial weeds, dig out as much of the root and plant runners as possible. Hummm, opinions are like weeds, they’ve got deep roots and wild runners with an occasional sapling or two and opinions are very viney and thorny. Pick up any newspaper around the country and you can find a multitude of opinions on every subject. Same with the radio or TV they are brimming with people’s opinions. Try the hair salon or barber shop or even the church foyer – opinions flow freely. Just ask how someone thinks President Obama is doing in his first 100 days. Everyone’s got an opinion. Wow, our daily lives are over run with opinions just like weeds invade and occupy a beautiful garden.

Weeds choke out beauty like Opinions choke out truth.

Wisdom works on opinions like goats work on weeds and it’s allowed in the burbs. Wisdom is that elusive quality we respect in others and find so difficult to develop in ourselves. It won’t be found in higher education where the call to an open mind prevails. That always reminds me of a great quote by Groucho Marx - "Now there's a man with an open mind - you can feel the breeze from here"! The Word of God unlocks the amenable secret to finding wisdom. A study of Proverbs 2 is a wonderful place to start. The first directive that catches your heart is to store up commandments within you. On the road to wisdom you will find the transmission occurs in the turning your ear towards, applying your heart to, calling out for and searching. Let the child in you go on a treasure hunt for all God has hidden for you to find. If you want to follow the leader – follow Jesus.

A pearl to string: A man dies. Of course, St. Peter meets him at the Pearly Gates.
St. Peter says, "Here's how it works. You need 100 points to make it into heaven. You tell me all the good things you've done, and I give you a certain number of points for each item, depending on how good it was. When you reach 100 points, you get in."
"Okay," the man says, "I was married to the same woman for 50 years and never cheated on her, even in my heart."
"That's wonderful," says St. Peter, "that's worth three points!"
"Three points?" he says. "Well, I attended church all my life and supported its ministry with my tithe and service."
"Terrific!" says St. Peter. "That's certainly worth a point."
"One point!?!! I started a soup kitchen in my city and worked in a shelter for homeless veterans."
"Fantastic, that's good for two more points," he says.
"Two points!?!!" Exasperated, the man cries, "At this rate it'll just be by the grace of God that I ever get into heaven."
"Bingo, 100 points! Come on in!"
Jesus said: "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." John 14:6/NKJV

Clinging to His Truth,
Lyndi