Good Thinking: Growing like a weed

I recently met a long-time friend at a class reunion.

"Long time, no see."

"It has been awhile."

"How are the kids?"

"Oh, they’re growin’ like weeds!"

He didn’t have to explain; I knew just what he meant.

What is a weed?

"A weed is a plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered." So said Ralph Waldo Emerson.

We too often use the term weed to refer to a plant that has no virtues, no redeemable value.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox wrote "A weed is an unloved flower!"

No one loves a weed! Weeds are our enemy; weeds are to be destroyed. In the Bible, Jesus shares a story:

A farmer has sown good seed in his fields; an enemy comes by night and sows bad seeds (weeds) in the farmer’s field. Weeds are those bad habits and negative influences that threaten the goodness in life, that destroy life as God meant it to be.

Growing like a weed! We can learn a positive lesson from a negative influence! Weeds will continue to thrive, even while other plants strive. Weeds will continue to grow in every season, even when good plants perish in summer’s heat or winter’s snow. Weeds will thrive in any type of soil, while other plants need a richer environment in order to grow. Weeds will continue to grow, under wet conditions, or dry – while many good plants are more particular about the amount of wetness or dry-ness they can endure.

A once-popular song heralded this phrase: "Everything is beautiful – in it’s own way…"

So it is with weeds! The bad news about weeds is that they (l) over-shadow the good, (2) take away resources needed by other plants, (3) take up space that we had better plans for, (4) are obnoxious and annoying, and (5) seem to have no practical value.

The good news about weeds is that (1)some exhibit a natural beauty, (2) some are used for medicinal purposes, (3) some are edible, and (4) all of them teach us patience.

Weeds could well be an wexample of the Christian faith! What if Christians adapted to their environment, and learned to thrive in any situation/soil? What if Christians were as persistent in their loyalty to Christ, enduring summer’s heat and winter’s cold? What if Christians continued to grow in faith and in Godly love, despite droughts and floods? What if Christians glowed with a natural beauty that would appeal to the worldly?

What if Christians were found to be useful and valuable, in spite of their outward appearance? What if we did, in fact, "grow like weeds"?