I chose the lead graphic, and readers will understand in a few minutes. Yesterday, Ranger Bob said, "What are you going to do about those weeds in the front yard?"
I said, "A strange question, coming from a guy who walked out his front door this morning to a bouquet of roses." He takes them to the cemetery for the graves of his sainted mother and his step-father, also an Army Ranger.
Bob laughed and said, "Oh yes, thanks for those. I really mean it."
I have weaponized weeds from years of adding earthworms, organic matter, and cover crops to the front garden. I have some grassy weeds that are knee-high. No problem. I trim them down, cover them with newspaper or cardboard, and add wood mulch. I compost the high nitrogen weeds on the spot. Their evil becomes my good, but only because of Creation.
All the plants and animals, down to the microbes, are created, engineered, and managed to serve us if we only let them:
- Most insects are beneficial by keeping the pests down;
- A toxin-free garden will multiply the birds, toads, and spiders, which also feed upon pests;
- Fungus, when left alone, will network all the plants, feed them, and even give them hydration;
- All weeds matter, so Dutch clover and Hog Peanuts can feed the soil while living, also post-mortem. The rest can be composted by denying them sunlight - almost instant soil food.
Weed patches in the rose garden are being covered with newspaper and wood mulch. Some weeds will be trimmed back first, all the better to let them decompose into the soil, feeding microbes, earthworms, and soil creatures (sowbugs, centipedes, millipedes, springtails).
"My Church Abused Me"
One of my favorite students wrote that; I have heard the same from various people, who shared their personal experiences or hinted at them. The abusive institutions wound and damage people, whose subsequent difficulties are also used against them.
I have reminded people that Jesus was not opposed by The Atheist Society but by His own religionists, the great and pious, the walking saints of the time. The same is true today - the worst ones hide in their "conservative" or "orthodox" or "Fundamentalist" strongholds, decrying the obvious abuse in the old, mainline, apostate Leftist denominations.
I have seen that abuse close at hand. WELS is far worse than the LCMS, and the Church of the Lutheran Confession (a laughable title) is the worst of the three. Destructive people enjoy the spiritual power of the Church, but only when using it for evil. Some people enjoy being on perimeter, helping out with the abuse while acting sympathetic.
We can let the wounds - call them weeds - fester, grow, and take over our lives. On their own, they will do that. But God has provided a remedy in John 15 - the parable of the True Vine.
First of all, the unbelievers with no spiritual fruit (because they have not remained on the True Vine) will be
- thrown out,
- withered,
- gathered,
- set on fire, and
- burned up.
They enjoy their honors and benefits now, because they honor their Father Below, the Prince of This World. Justice will be served. That knowledge alone should bring peace of mind - it is a good start. I have seen that happen before my eyes, their evil bringing about their well-deserved ruin. Others have to wait, but that is only because the crimes are greater and the punishment held back to gather their followers, as rotten food gathers maggots. Paul Tillich and Pope Pius XII died in the agony of doubt and fear after a lifetime of luxurious apostasy and evil.
Just as we compost weeds on the spot, and use their vigor for what is good and useful, we can turn the abuse into good.
- Shut off anything that makes it worse - evil institutions, evil friends, enabling family, and the urge to dwell on the past. That starts the healing.
- Abide in the True Vine. Hearing the Gospel Word, reading the Gospel Word, attending worship rather than a circus with clowns - that divine energy converts the weeds into God's blessings.
- In time, help others with the same experiences.
John 15 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.
9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.
