Some Thoughts On Weeds

             Some Thoughts On Weeds
Dear Friends,
      The end of the active growing season is upon us.  My garden is entering into the time when the flowers are replaced by seed pods and the leafy stems are rusty brown, golden and shades of red.  At first glance it looks really messy with the dry, bent over plants that just a short time ago filled the yard with bold bursts of color!  
     Yesterday warmed up a bit and the sun was bright.  When I was picking up broken branches I came across a lovely little flower.  It's a weedy plant called lamb's quarters.  Some people eat lamb's quarter plants and claim that there are health  benefits from them. A lot of animals and birds eat them too.  The leaves of this plant are edged in pretty brush strokes of pink and purple.  After flowering they produce thousands of little,  fluffy  seed puffs that are carried by the wind.  After landing on the soil, each seed can remain alive and able to grow up to 40 years! 
     Weeds are generally thought of in negative ways but let's look at it differently today.  One interesting and positive thing that I read about lamb's quarter plants is that it helps to restore healthy nutrients to poor quality soil.  I have heard that this is true for some other plants that are considered weeds.  
    Now consider the story of Zacchaeus, the wealthy tax collector in Luke 19.   We have all been told about the bad reputation he had.  Do we need to believe the worst stories and rumors about Zacchaeus?  If we look at the few  facts written about him we see that Zacchaeus was so eager to see Jesus that he climbed a tree so that he could see better.  When Jesus saw him he called up to him by name and requested to dine at his house.  The crowd began  murmuring accusations against  Zacchaeus to the degree that he felt the need to speak up for himself to set the record right.  He said that he gives half of his wealth to the poor and if  someone who is wrongfully accusing him finds that the accusations are true, he will repay them four times the amount he took from them.  He doesn't appear to think that the rumors are true.  Perhaps he had already been listening to Jesus and John the Baptist.  Perhaps he had been putting some of the teachings into practice.  Jesus could see good in Zacchaeus and  went on to say, "Salvation has come to this home today, for this man has shown himself to be a true son of Abraham."
     When I saw the pretty flowering weed it brought joy to my heart.  Let's look past the negative and see the beauty and worth of the people and world around us.
Luke 13:10
"For the Son of man has come to save those who are lost."