This morning in Sunday School, in a moment of just being real, we talked about how we tend to compare ourselves to others. I think that has gone on since the dawn of time, but certainly social media has exacerbated this phenomenon. I used the example of homegrown tomatoes. When you harvest a nice basket of sun-ripened tomatoes off the vine, one of the things gardeners like to do is to take a photo of them to share.
When you do that, if you are honest, you position the tomatoes, right? You put the biggest, most beautiful ones in the front. You turn the ones with the stink bug damage, the ones with the worm holes and also the ones with the bird-pecked holes to the back. There. Now you can take the picture of the basket full of your perfect homegrown tomatoes. Except, almost none of them are perfect. We may try our best and put in the best effort imaginable, but we are imperfect people in an imperfect world. Things happen and the sooner we come to grips with that, the better.
It's not just gardening. Fishermen do the same thing, showing their biggest fish. They talk about the "one that got away." Hunters pose with their ducks or their trophy buck. But it is quiet as crickets on those days that we kill nothing but time. Parents do that to when little Johnny makes Honor Roll or Student of the Year. We don't share when little Johnny gets in trouble.
No ones tomatoes, fishing trip, hunting trip or kids are perfect. This side of heaven, they won't be! Let's just be honest, open, and real with one another, okay? That being said, let me show you my snap beans. I planted a double row, 15 foot length of Contender and Roma beans. Check 'em out:
Wait, did you see them? Well, before we left on vacation for 3 1/2 days, the beans were looking great. I was anticipating a good harvest. Nothing I like better than fresh picked green beans cooked with some butter and new potatoes. Unfortunately, the worms or a rabbit (I never caught the culprit) like them more than me. They chewed the tops off of EVERY SINGLE PLANT, leaving just a barren bean stalk sticking out of the ground.
Oh well, I guess I'll have to grow the perfect green beans this spring!
No comments:
Post a Comment