A Miniature Flower Garden and Unity

God’s Family and the Variety of Sizes of Zinnias

                In late May, I planted zinnias, from Mother's saved seed packets, in a repurposed black protein tub given to us by Tim Gates. The recycled flower container sits in the tomato bed west of the vintage cellar door.

                Unless we receive rain, I water each evening just before dusk the tomato plants and the flower “pot” garden. Recently, as I watered the flowers with the hose snozzle set on the sprinkler setting, I mused on the varying sizes of the flowers’ diameters.

The Little Container Flower Garden

                One tiny bloom had began barely to emerge with a mere hint of color. the orange-tinted posy measured a little bigger, with all its little petals surrounding its pretty center. Then I noticed the large, magenta zinnia outstanding in the miniature flower garden. Several other colorful, multi-petaled posies stood tall in the circular container.

                As I pulled the hose and continued watering the tomato plants, I recalled an earlier account told in our Bible study of two teenage young men befriended and helped by a seasoned man in our congregation. What a powerful illustration of unity!

                Our Bible study group had studied previously in Paul’s first letter to Timothy, in chapter 5, the need for younger men to respond to older men as fathers and in turn, the older men treat men younger than themselves as sons. The same line of thought was expressed by Paul concerning the behavior of women of all ages toward one another. In our discussion of this study, my mother said, “Bottom-line, respect each other.”

                In the story of the befriending of the teenagers by a man many decades older than them, the venerable man taught useful lessons about lawn careequipment. The Apostle Paul instructed Titus, as a young pastor, to “urge the younger men to be self-controlled.” (Titus 2:6) Then he encouraged this young pastor to “be a model of good works” and to show “integrity, dignity” in his teaching. (Titus 2:7)

                Paul concludes this segment of teaching with verse 8 from chapter 2. Here is how that verse reads from J. B. Phillips’ translation – a favorite translation of my grandfather, Calvin Callcayah Smith.

Your speech should be unaffected and logical, so that your opponent may feel ashamed at finding nothing in which to pick holes.

So many times, multi-generational interactions are fraught with verbal clashes and disagreements. Yet if, in our families, our churches, our society, we follow these Biblical aspects of respect and restraint, we create a pleasing "garden" of multi-age unity.

God inspired Paul to compare the church of Jesus to a body, a building, and a field or garden. Paul said church leaders are faithful workers, not power-hungry oligarchs. The Living Bible gives a verse that captures the connection of the little black container garden and unity. Here is what Paul wrote to the Corinthian believers:

We are only God’s coworkers. You are God’s garden, not ours; you are God's building, not ours. (I Corinthians 3:9)

Lord, help our striving for unity be driven by our commitment to You. May the unity in our families, our churches, and our society be a testimony revealing our deep-seated love for You with the deepest desire for that unity to draw the disillusioned, disappointed and disenfranchised to a relationship with You and with us, for Your glory.
Afterword
The very morning after I completed this blog posting, as I inspected the tomato plants, I noticed a pretty zinnia stretching itself over the rim of the container. It was the only one not standing erect in the black flower pot. As I snapped the photo below, I recalled I Corinthians 12. Paul discussed the varieties of gifts, service, and activities. Yet he declared the same Holy Spirit, the same Lord Jesus, and the same God empowered those who have received Him to bring glory and honor to Him alone.

    

      I was struck by the lovely zinnia sticking

                 its gorgeous head out of the pot instead of
                   standing regally in the  cluster with the others.
               It seemed such a powerful picture of the
                    variety that Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit,
                wrote of in the church. There are so many
               varieties of us who follow Jesus, seeking
              to see His Will done on earth as it is
                    in heaven.

Using Repair Therapy

               Sometimes it seems if something is marred or torn, it is easier, in our 21^st century, to discard the damaged item. Fixing a blemished piece of furniture or a ripped article of clothing takes more time than many of us want to expend. After all, it will only be repaired, not new. Likely, the “scar” from the mar or rip will remain evident.

                I faced this situation recently with a summer work shirt and the wooden box that holds our bag of cat food. Whether it is my age or sentimentality, after briefly evaluating the damaged stuff, I chose to repair.

              I try to embrace “best practices” if I can in my life. My maternal grandmother, Gladys Rainey Smith, lived to 82 years old and was never diagnosed with any type of skin cancer. She never used one smidgen of sunscreen but always worked outdoors with her enormous lined hat, long pants and a long sleeve shirt. This attire remained her summer uniform throughout her life. Since Grandma succeeded at staving off skin cancer, I dress similarly to Grandma when I go outdoors.

                I repurposed several of Dad’s casual shirts to wear during the summer. I was disappointed when I returned from clearing small saplings to spot a long tear in the front of Dad’s brick red plaid shirt. My first and the second attempts with old fusible interfacing were unsuccessful. Not to be dissuaded, I pulled out my sewing machine, threaded it with brick red thread, overlapped the two edges of the torn place and zigzagged them together. The brick red shirt is back in service. As Dad would say – Mission Accomplished!

The repaired brick red shirt

                The second item in disrepair held the large bags of cat food. I reiterate again I am not the crazy cat lady, but we do have a dozen felines.* A few years ago, I discovered a gray wooden box that was perfect for holding the cat food. I relocated it right next to the cat “dishes.” Recently, I was disappointed to see water damage had loosened the parquet lid pieces. After discussing it with Mother, I became more determined to repair and reclaim it instead of discarding it. She confirmed Dad had built it. I am sure the parquet lid was Dad’s effort to utilize the material he had on hand and maybe to be creative or as he would say “add the gingerbread.”

                I took outside the trusty Elmer’s Glue – not school glue, but the real deal. I had seen Dad use it effectively many times. While I waited for the cats to eat, I glued the lid’s underlining back on. Then put old lawn mower blades on top to act as weights and press the pieces together. The next morning upon finding the glue job to be a success, I glued onto the lid the pieces. Not being able to use clamps as Dad did, I used the old lawn mower blades once again. The lid is serviceable again. Mission Accomplished!

Parquet Lid of Damaged Box

         The scripture talks about making repairs. Ironically, each account that is mentioned pertains to God’s people – not the ungodly. One account from the Old Testament in 2 Kings is worth considering.

Josiah began reigning at age 8 over the kingdom of Judah. His rule was encapsulated in this phrase from 2 Kings 22:22 – And he did what was right in the sight of the Lord…

King Josiah ordered the cleanup and repair of the Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem. The care of the temple had been so neglected that even the Book of the Law (which we would call the first five books of the Bible) had been misplaced. Henry T. Blackaby and Richard Blackaby wrote in their devotional, Experiencing God Day By Day, about the obstinate, disobedient people of the Southern kingdom of Judah, "But those who were supposed to be God's people forsook Him and practiced every kind of sin."  
          King Josiah, only in his 20s, was astounded at what God had commanded the people of God to do. This young king led his self-willed country back to obedience to the Lord by following the Word of God that had been recovered, read and obeyed. Recently our pastor, Mike Brock, cited 2 Kings 23:22, 25 as a basis for lauding the extent of the obedience by King Josiah as no king before or after him had done.

                    Many of us want to die believing we have done what was right. Sometimes it is easy to do good things in people’s eyes. But preeminent in God’s eyes will be the question of whether we believed and received Jesus as Lord (boss).
                 King Josiah did what was right in the sight of the Lord by two reparative actions. Daily, our lives need the repair afforded by the same actions of King Josiah - reading and obeying the scripture.

 *Bless Lee Bryant and Kristy Bledsoe for taking one of our good mouser mamas, Brindle Mama Cat, and five kittens. Kristy and Lee Bryant needed eradication of rodents in their barn. We were glad to be neighborly to one of newest newlywed couples in the Bend.

The Mosquito Killer

          On one of the many summer mornings I walked to check the cattle, I spotted out of the corner of my eye, a beautiful blue hue. As I looked closer, without moving a muscle, I recognized a dragonfly. Slowly, I pulled my tiny camera from my pocket, adjusted the zoom on it, and snapped a quick shot. I inched closer to the arthropod, astounded I could get off a second photograph of the lovely-to-observe winged wonder. It remained motionless, as did I, for what seemed the longest time. Soon the delicate-looking creature took to wing.

I achieved research success when I glimpsed a photo similar to the ones I had snapped earlier in the day. There was the arthropod with the gauzy wings with dark markings on each wing. They were attached to a beautiful light blue abdomen. The thorax was dark with a radiant marking of brilliant blue just below the head. I had snapped a relatively bold male widow skimmer. The unusual name for this dragonfly – whether male or female - stemmed from the dark coloring on each wing around its abdomen and thorax resembling the black drape worn by widows of days gone by as a sign of grief upon the death of a husband.

The Widow Skimmer in the pasture

 I queried in my mind why God created each creature. Research revealed the widow skimmer nourishes itself on flies, gnats and mosquitoes. Aren’t we glad for that this summer?

Then I found the dragon fly was purported to have provided inspiration for the invention of the helicopter. God enabled the widow skimmer and other dragon flies to slope its body and “bank” in its flying maneuvers. The Chinese created a flying toy called the “bamboo dragonfly” over 2400 years ago. Europeans upon seeing the agile toy ruminated on it and various flying contraptions were made.

Just as the Widow Skimmer kills the pesky, dangerous mosquitoes, so the Apostle Paul commanded us to kill the evil desires within us. The godly writer of much of the New Testament, admonishes the believers in Colosse to “set their minds on things above” which prompted the need for his reminder of the need to kill those desires of the old nature. I have underscored the “deifying of self” since it is easy to idolize my wants and desires over His. Here is Paul’s directive from Colossians 3:5 - 

So kill (deaden, deprive of power) the evil desire lurking in your members [those animal impulses and all that is earthly in you that is employed in sin]: sexual vice, impurity, sensual appetites, unholy desires, and all greed and covetousness, for that is idolatry ( the deifying of self and other created things instead of God). (The Classic Edition of the Amplified Bible)

                The flying gossamer-winged insects categorized as “dragonflies” have lent their name to helicopters and toys because of their unique maneuverability of their wings in flight. The inspiration of arthropods like the widow skimmer have impacted our world remarkably. Do we inspire and encourage others to greatness? The writer of Hebrews told us not to let sin deceive us or others into stubbornness. Instead we should inspire obedience. 

This is the time to encourage each other to never be stubborn or hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.

Hebrews 3:13 (The Passion Translation)

                Sightings of the dragonfly, God’s beautiful creature in flight, remind us of their power to affect positively our world as they devour biting pests that harm humans and as a directive in our spiritual lives to put to death our unhealthy desires. As we gaze at their filmy, transparent wings, let their wonder inspire us to encourage ourselves and others to resist a stubborn, hard-headed attitude when pursuing sin. Instead let's encourage obedience that leads to His calming place of rest (Hebrews 3:18).

What a Vision of Colorful Loveliness from our Creator!

Sighting Tobacco Hornworms

Imagine finding what I thought was a tomato worm, but upon closer inspection and research, I learned about something new. That happened this summer in Grandma’s backyard flower beds converted by me into tomato garden spots.

Within three days, I collected eight tomato plant predators during my watering time. Several of these were immature larvae, just brilliant lime green in color. But then I pulled this creature from a damaged tomato plant. Upon researching, I learned it was a tobacco hornworm instead of a tomato hornworm. Just the kind of creature I didn't want to deal with this summer.

A couple of characteristics distinguishes one from the other. The tobacco hornworm has white diagonal markings whereas a tomato hornworm displays v-shaped light markings on its otherwise bright green background. The distinctive horn of the tobacco hornworm is reddish in color. The color of the ominous-looking horn on the tomato hornworm appears dark blue or black.

The tobacco hornworm posing on the bottom of
an overturned planter.

The one overwhelming fact remained - the destructive nature of the little green “worms.” Yet this go-around in 2020 found me plucking from the Celebrity tomato plants some brilliant, lime green immature larvae devoid of any markings. Those little green pests blended imperceptibly into the green of the healthy tomato greenery.

Those small destroyers, though indiscernible, began causing harm to a couple of  healthy tomato vines. In this same way, James, the half-brother of Jesus, stated the beginning of sin is small with an evil desire enticing one to commit the sinful action and if allowed to mature, it leads to death. (James 1:14-15)

The account of King David, the second king of the kingdom of Israel, and his progression into sinfulness came to mind when I learned more about the almost invisibleness of an immature larva of the tobacco hornworm. David’s first sin was inactivity or idleness. Few 21^st century Christians would categorize idleness as a sin. Then in his idleness, he looked and lusted for Bathsheba, his military comrade’s wife. Both errors in judgment would have likely gone unnoticed by the palace servants just as the unmarked caterpillar in brilliant green can hardly be seen by the unsuspecting gardener.

Then just as the more visible light-colored markings of the mature tobacco hornworm emerged, David’s next steps of calling the wife of a friend and trusted soldier to the palace and the subsequent adultery implicated at least some of the Jerusalem palace staff.

David could have repented, but instead he conducted his kingly responsibilities under self-deception. Then he received the dreaded news of Bathsheba’s pregnancy, but no repentance. The attempt at the unsuccessful cover-up began.

The king recalled his friend and husband of the woman he had violated. Even after David got his friend drunk, Uriah refused to go on leave to his home and wife. Then David does the unthinkable. He sends a death order for Bathsheba’s husband and his trusted soldier by Uriah’s very hand!

Following the "sorrow" over Uriah’s death in battle and a respectable time of mourning, David marries Uriah’s pregnant widow. All seemed well, but 2 Samuel 11 ends with these words, But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord.

Just as a tobacco hornworm allowed unrestricted access to a tomato plant will harm it, render it unfruitful, and destroy the once healthy plant, so destruction came to David’s family. In studying the Biblical record of David’s children, you will see death due to illness, rape of David’s beautiful daughter by her half-brother, and then her brother, another son of David, avenged her rape by murdering their half-brother turned rapist. Death in battle took Prince Absalom after he incited an insurrection of his own father, David. After David’s death, another son was killed following his planned takeover of David’s heir apparent, King Solomon and his fledgling kingdom.

Just as I removed the tobacco hornworms instantly, may we attend to the small, seemingly harmless issues in our lives. As God points out changes that need to be made, may we pray for strength from His Holy Spirit to, moment by moment, day by day, take steps of obedience. This will insure our continued productivity. 

A couple of stripped tomato limbs reveal the
tobacco hornworm's destructiveness.

A tomato plant decimated by hornworm destruction reaches a point beyond reclamation to fruitfulness. In contrast, humans never sink to a depth too low for God to reach while here on earth. The Apostle Paul wrote of this depravity redeemed in Romans 6:17. May it be a watchword as we pray for ourselves and others.

But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed.