Ugly: Truth Identified

Hands-On Learning: weed roots are outed with careful extraction

There I am, scraping through the soil, encouraging  vine root zones by removing evil weeds when God gave me a bugger of an education. Nothing teaches quite so well as hands-on experience.

Caterpillars look innocent enough.  Some can be beautiful. This cute little tyke was a bright chartreuse green with red, yellow and black dashes forming two tracks along his back.  All I knew was that he didn’t belong by the vines. That concept alone did not warrant his death, so I hurled the cavorting worm beyond the outer border of precious vine rows. Today I know that was a reckless mistake. White lined Sphynx moths will eat – among other things—grapes!

The beetle I found, on the other hand, looked menacing. Pincers, jags on its legs, huge inch long purple iridescent lined armor; pretty but scary. I have heard that some beetles will bore into vines causing damage so friendship  with this guy wasn’t even a consideration. But since I’m trying to be a good care-giver, I set him aside for later identification – into the small metal measuring cup he went so that I could continue weeding.  This determined little bugger found a way out of his metallic confines.  I wasn’t going to stop weeding to find out whether he was friend or foe because I wanted to finish this section ahead of the next downpour. Instead, I took a picture then squashed his fat behind.

Oh my goodness! Purple ground beetles eat slugs.  Scary though he was to the invertebrates in our rows, this guy was good for the eco system of our vineyard. Lord, help me. I killed the good guy! The real threat I whimsically threw to the far side, out of vineyard space proper. Ignorance can be damaging. I’m so ashamed.

Looking back over the years I can describe myself as a slow growing cynic.  With an astounding rate of regularity, people I’ve chosen to trust weren’t worthy of the honor. Recently I’ve pondered the possibility that I simply trusted the wrong people. Perhaps taking time to clearly identify trustworthy people would’ve saved me from the aching pain of betrayal just like killing the right bug would have been better for Weaver’s Hill, saving the fruit.

I can identify with my violet friend. When I try to do what is right in the natural course of this life, at times I get squashed by well intentioned folk who are not able to look beyond perceptions, understand my   actions, realize my value and praise God for the blessing of my existence. Apparently, that’s asking a lot.

Wisdom, knowledge and insight come from the LORD. The one who exists and causes all things to exist already knows the good guys from the bad ones. From the human line of sight, proper identification takes time and a willingness to learn. Once I learn the difference, that knowledge should influence my actions because the end result is at stake. Now I know one bad guy who looks cute and one good guy who looks stylishly wicked and scary. What do I do?

“What is that?” asked my husband.

Washing the cloak of moist soil from the skin of a green caterpillar… wait…. that sounds too nice. I actually dumped him into the well of an old tire filled with rusty rain water and flipped him around so I could see if it was the same dastardly creature I’d just learned about.

“Oh! It’s a bad guy. See the markings on his back?” Steve bent forward, away from his chopping wood, to get a closer look. Sure enough, there were the tell tale two rows of colorful dash marks forming a road down his back.

“What are you going to do with it?” Steve’s interest was now fully engaged.

“I guess I’ll throw him in the trash can.”

“No. Give him here. Put him on the rocks right here.” I obeyed Stephen’s instructions despite the inner twang I felt to protect living creatures of any kind.

Down came the axe head. Green caterpillar guts squirted and blobbed out in folds to the side of this once viable body. It fell again. More ooze. Flat carcass. Totally dead. Threat of one — GONE!!!!

Now that I know who’s who, I will keep those alive that should live and guiltlessly kill those who shouldn’t.  I praise God for Steve’s bold, decisive move because I am a better wine grower for it. This is one way that we are able to protect the crop we hope for. That is a very good thing.

In my new social adventures I pray that I will slow down enough to properly identify good-at-heart  people and promote their value. I also want to recognize the bad guys; not only till them out of their comfort zone but rid myself of the damage they cause. (You know what they say…. “an ounce of prevention….”)

Yes. Pray. Because God is the only one who knows hearts and he is the only one who can teach me to sort the good from the bad in the vineyard at Weaver’s Hill and in the vineyard of my life.

Good vs. Evil: Weeds Part 2

Thistles in the rows?!? Feel the blade. Be gone! (Weapon of choice? Pitchfork and a good pair of leather gloves.)

Gathering an education on one’s own is an adventure! Google “weeds” and you’ll get several people defining them. Don’t miss the “s” or you’ll meet a few pot heads – who, by the way, do have interesting things to say about taking care of plants…..(God teaches us that no one is completely empty and I am finding that to be true. Just sayin’.)

What is a weed? In merriam-webster.com, a weed is described as being a plant that is not valued where it is growing and is usually of vigorous growth; especially one that tends to overgrow or choke out more desirable plants. Encarta Dictionary for North America adds that weeds are wild plants, growing where they are not wanted.

Weeds do not belong in vineyard rows, especially young vineyards. Feel free to disagree but here I am managing Weaver’s Hill according to a Biblical schematic. The first pass for weeding rows at Weaver’s Hill began in February. My second pass is ending and the third looms into the far side of July. Whew!  When I close my eyes, I see visions of  Alder (Alnus viridis, Alnus rubra), Shot Weed(Cardamine oligosperma), Groundsel (Senecio vulgaris), Musk Thistle(Carduus nutans), Canadian Thistle (Cirsium arvense), Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale ), Salal (Gaultheria shallon ), and Clover (Trifolium repens).

There are two kinds of weeds and their respective extraction processes are managed differently in the field. Annual weed plants must have their seeding process interrupted. Perennial weed plants are kept at bay by using a sharp garden hand tool. Tilling them under will cause the roots and leaves to fragment, and then each fragment becomes a new “problem” plant in the garden.

What does the Bible say God wants weeded out of his garden – out of his people? Jesus defined weeds as sons of the evil one in Matthew 13. From the Devine perspective, they are thorns [7898], thistles [1863], or cokels [890] springing from the heart (Mark 7:20-22) of men, making men unclean. In 2 Samuel 23:5-7 and Matthew 13 they are to be disposed of properly and in a timely manner.

How? In Matthew 13:41, the Son of Man will send out his angels and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. Hear that? Everything! All! One day, all the weeds will be gone. (Un jour, que toutes les mauvaises herbes aura disparu.) Oh blessed end to earth’s trouble!

Q: What is sin?

A: The schemes of folly (Proverbs 24:9), Things done without faith (Romans 14:23), Deeds of lawlessness (1 John 3:4)

Q:What causes sin?

A: Our own desires (James 1:13-15)

Q: What is evil?

A: According to Strong’s exhaustive concordance [7451], evil: ra’ – bad, disagreeable, inferior in quality; by extension, evil, wicked in ethical quality; what is disagreeable to God is ethically evil; God’s actions of judgment are disagreeable to the wicked but are not ethically evil.

Q:Who does evil?

A: Evildoers are those who act upon their evil thoughts.

So defining “evil” could vary from person to person.  God decides the standard and he has a list in Proverbs 6:16-19…

¹⁶ There are six things the LORD hates,
seven that are detestable to him:
¹⁷ haughty eyes,
a lying tongue,
hands that shed innocent blood,
¹⁸ a heart that devises wicked schemes,
feet that are quick to rush into evil,
¹⁹ a false witness who pours out lies
and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers.

Weeds in the garden I can see and deal with. Weeds in my life –Now that is entirely different! Whom do I trust? Whom do I listen to, avoid or just get rid of? Everyone looks so good.

There have been times in my life that I felt choked out, invaded…harmed. I kept hoping that the difficult people in my life would leave and let me breathe. Some left. Some STAYED!( The perennial little buggers.) They behaved continuously the same: happy, thriving and prolific. In the vineyard, weeds are disease resistant, hardly ever wilt in summer heat or freeze in winter they seem to be problem free.

I see weeds in my life, my row and inside I feel conflicted. One day I want them annihilated. The next day I have an incredibly strong desire to be like them. Asaph had the same problem of heart in Psalm 73:12-26 , a beautiful passage saying in effect that he wanted to be like them until he saw their end.

When he did, he realized the insanity of such a longing. From my vantage point, it would be like a vine wanting to be a weed. The sheer insanity of exchanging the glory of a fruitful, useful vine to be a carefree, invasive, prickly pipsqueak of a plant is beyond insane. Asaph says when he thought such a thought he was like a brute beast before the LORD. Yup…that’s how it feels. And I do NOT want to be a weed. I want to enjoy being a vine. J

One comforting thought is that vines don’t weed themselves, the gardener does that job. He uses an impartial standard—His own. Not ours or the neighbor guy’s. God, our gardener, our vineyard manager is able to do it. “The Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the Day of Judgment, while continuing their punishment” 2 Peter 2:9.

That is so comforting. I LOVE it! I will not grieve the death of weeds – though never rejoicing in the death of any plant. I choose instead to rejoice that the LORD shows his love for me, a vine in his care, by removing the wild and unwanted in my life. ..attitudes in my heart, inferior quality of tasks I perform or happily wild people choking out my existence to ensure their own agenda.

Blessed be the Name of the LORD who gets those damned weeds out.

No. I’m not swearing. Read Good vs. Evil : Weeds Part 3 to find out who the damned are and learn to love weeding too…maybe even laugh a little as you pull, shake and toss. May God grant us all a heart of courage for the task – to weed and be weeded. (Dieu nous accorder un coeur de courage pour la tâche.)

Good vs. Evil: Weeds Part 1

The task takes time. Have Courage. Avoir a bon Coeur!

The difference a little effort makes.

Complain about weeding if you want to but I ENJOY it. The benefits of weeding go beyond the physical and the practical into the spiritual.  God includes this topic when he talks about vineyards.

Both weeds and vines want to live, to grow, and reproduce. Growing is good. Right?

Why, then, is the man who has a vineyard covered with thorns and weeds despised in Proverbs 24? (I went past the field of the sluggard, past the vineyard of the man who lacks judgment; thorns had come up everywhere, the ground was covered with weeds…) What did the sluggard lack aside from motivation?

He had no heart. The Hebrew word leb, (translated as “judgment” in the NIV or as “understanding “ in the KJV version, literally translates as “heart””(…past the vineyard of the man who lacks heart”.  This “heart”, may be considered the inner person, self, the seat of thought and emotion: conscience, courage, mind, or understanding.  It follows then that if you have heart, your vineyard is not overgrown with weeds. Si vous avez à coeur, votre vignoble n’est pas envahi par les mauvaises herbes.

Recently at Benziger winery in Sonoma, California our tasting room educator spoke of it this way. Vines need water, light, soil and heart…the heart of those who tend them and the heart of those making wine from them. To succeed at this project, to free our personal vineyards ( our people) of weeds, we need lb. We cannot know what should be done

Today, well meaning, merciful and compassionate people propagate the philosophy that if you coddle all living things you are a good person and if you don’t you are heartless, cold and cruel. If you take the time and effort necessary to weed out certain ideas, practices, motives or…dare I say it…people, you become the bad guy. Really?!? NOT according to the Bible. (Romans 12:9; Proverbs 10:20; Matthew 13:38) And weeds are, let’s face it, a particular breed of evil.

It takes a heart of courage to communicate the truth that good is good and evil, as disgusting as it is, really does exist. Though the items may be different for me than for you, there are some evils everyone’s heart cries out against: Oppression, extortion, child pornography, the rampant annihilation and torture of one’s own people.

For me, it takes knowledge and courage to begin reading scripture to my children when their demeanor is less than willing to listen, to accept, or to interact with God’s words.  It takes courage for me to set boundaries with loved ones that define my personal space. It takes a patient heart to be silent when I want desperately to burst out and share knowledge that will meet a known need. It takes courage to seek out what is good for me and the people around me , then hold to it with everything I have – wavering for no one. It takes courage of the thoughtful, understanding kind to rebuke an errant child face to face. What keeps me engaging these activities when the pressure to abandon them comes at me from all directions? Simply the knowledge of the alternative —  a garden – a people overrun by invasive, nutrient stealing thieves  is an unacceptable evil.

I can hear one weed representative persuasively ramble on, “Don’t hate me because I’m a weed. I am valuable for medicine. I seed on my own and I’m practically care-free. My flowers make beautiful household decorations when freshly cut or dried. I didn’t ask to be in your yard… God must have put me here just for your own personal enjoyment. I bring beneficial insects to your garden and hold the soil in place when it rains. I prevent disease from attacking your precious vines by diminishing soil splash. So I actually help your garden to flourish. Yes. Without a doubt I AM valuable. I don’t want to die. Please….pretty please… let me live.” Hear the good sounding argument here? When people talk like this it makes my stomach flip like a cultivated clod.

Facts are facts. Diligent gardeners all over everywhere wage war on weeds — pulling them, tilling them under and in many cases burning them. The Gardener’s intent or purpose for the land is important. The extras that come his way are…well… expendable. Whether the planted area is valuable because of its beautiful character or its crop production, the purpose of the gardener must prevail. If you want to farm Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale ), go ahead. But to get to a crop worth a profit from dandelions, the property must be focused on dandelions not kale (Brassica oleracea).

Have a heart. Man up. Have the courage to call a weed, a weed. Be focused; Be profitable. Get those damned weeds OUT!

What weeds? Read Good vs. Evil: Weeds–Part 2 next. And PLEASE… have a good heart (Avoir un bon Coeur!).