Out There, Or In Here

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We don't watch the news.  We don't have cable.  I have only seen Fox News or CNN when traveling, and that's not often.  ABC, CBS, NBC, NPR don't get turned on in our home.  Most of the time in my commute, I'm listening to an audiobook, so I don't listen to the radio much.  I'm not totally ignorant to what is going on.  I like to get informed of current events from a LSU website called TigerDroppings, believe it or not. 

People will post current news in the form of excerpts from a New York Times article, for instance.  They'll link the story so that you can read the entire thing.  There are folks of every political stripe on TigerDroppings.  Some will critique the article and debate the errors in the journalist's slant.  Others will support the article with arguments in favor of the thesis of the story.  Both sides of the story are discussed and you walk away truly seeing the merits and pitfalls of the story.  I like that.  The story, from whatever publication or video is posted, may be biased, but after reading other people's opinions - both pro and con, you are able to sort out truth from fiction.

There is so much politically charged rhetoric, especially today.  It makes me want to do like Henry David Thoreau and escape to Walden.  I don't like how it stresses me out and how it makes me feel.  So I ran across a quote today that made me think.

Back when I was managing the family grocery store in the late 1990's, things were stressful at times.  A Methodist preacher friend of mine would meet me and we would sit in a swing under a big oak tree behind the store and he would read to me from C.S. Lewis' book, The Screwtape Letters.  Screwtape Letters was a book about a chief demon named Screwtape writing instructions to his nephew, Wormwood, a junior demon.  Bro. Charlie and I would discuss the reading for the day and pray.  Looking back, it was a real special time sitting under that oak tree reading together.

In the book, Screwtape is helping Wormwood prevent his "patient" from coming to a saving knowledge of God and to tempt him.  Screwtape Letters  was written in 1942, but here is one of the letters that I thought was particularly pertinent to today:

"My dear Wormwood,
Be sure that the patient remains completely fixated on politics.  Arguments, political gossip, and obsessing on the faults of people they have never met serves as an excellent distraction from advancing in personal virtue, character, and the things the patient can control.  Make sure to keep the patient in a constant state of angst, frustration, and general disdain towards the rest of the human race in order to avoid any kind of charity or inner peace from further developing.  Ensure the patient continues to believe that the problem is "out there" in the "broken system" rather than recognizing there is a problem within himself.

Keep up the good work,

Uncle Screwtape"

How appropriate and timely.  Many times I'll read something and think (or say), "Look at these crazy people!"  I'll allow the situation to get me all worked up.  I'll focus on the brokenness of others and completely miss the many faults in me.

This reminded me of the Psalmist in chapter 51 where he said the following:

Psalm 51:10-13 

Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.

Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.

Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.

Lord, forgive me for looking out there instead of in here.  Help me to be obedient to you, to trust you, and to leave it all in your Hands.  Amen.

The Great Divide

This is not a political blog.  Although I have my opinions, at least in this forum, I try to keep them to myself.  Here's why:  One would have to say in terms of division, the only time that our nation has been split like it is now was during the Civil War. These days there seems to be no civil discourse. You can't simply agree to disagree. Those with differing opinions often resort to name-calling, yelling, rioting, and violence.  Often those with opposing viewpoints have their speech censored.  Urban versus Rural, Black versus White, Christian versus non-Christian, Left versus Right, et cetera, et cetera.  When those from "different walks of life" mix, trouble ensues.

I find that it is no different in the garden.  Below you can see a lush jungle consisting of two different varieties of sweet potatoes (Beauregard and Golden Wonder) that come up every year in the north part of the garden.  No one has to plant sweet potato slips, they just sprout up every year and keep us stocked up with bins of sweet potatoes.  Also in the jungle of vines below are two other things that came up volunteer (without being intentionally planted) - a Jack-Be-Little pumpkin and a New England Sugar Pie pumpkin.

At least initially, the sweet potato vines and the pumpkin vines stay in their own locale, growing happily, and minding their own business.  There is a clear division where the sweet potatoes grow and where other crops can grow.  The rows to the right in the photo below are where the potatoes were just harvested.  I'm planning on planting purple hull peas, blackeyed peas, and some pole beans in the now empty rows once occupied by the potatoes.

But the sweet potatoes have other thoughts.  As seen in the photo below, a Beauregard Sweet Potato vine has decided to encroach upon the space reserved for beans and peas.  You can see it testing the waters, reaching out its vine southward to populate and over-run areas intended for peas and beans.  Sweet potato vines don't respect other crops growing in the garden. If it meets no resistance, it will put down roots and send out more vines and soon will over-run the entire garden, crowding out anything and everything in its path.

But it doesn't have to be a zero-sum game.  The sweet potato winning doesn't have to come at the expense of the peas and beans.  Both can respect the other and win. Rather than having an entire garden of sweet potatoes, we can have a healthy plot of sweet potatoes, a few rows of peas and beans as well as all other types of vegetables and herbs we grow.  Although I love sweet potatoes, how boring it would be if that's all that I grew!

So it is with the division in our nation.  We should respect one another - even when we have differences.  We should not try to over-run or crowd out those who may differ with us in some fashion or another.  We can all live together and thrive where we are planted.  In so doing, our harvest will be a healthy one, containing a diverse crop of all shapes and colors.