Summertime brings a wealth of sensory data to revitalise
we poor Britons who suffer so many months of grey numbness. The colours
of the world around us start bursting out with vivid hues as the sun brings
its golden touch. The air is full of pungent smells as plants and flowers
delight in their courtship ballets. The tongue-click sound of leather against
willow wafts over the playing fields. Poets put pen to paper with alliterations
all aflow and lager louts spill onto the pavements. Wasps dive-bomb garden
tables awash with scones and clotted cream, and young maidens cast cares
aside to strut their stuff and excite the lads. Oh, and police persons
wear short sleeves.
And then there's cutting the grass. I mean who needs
it? The stuff just won't do what it's told. I even tried shouting at it
in a very stern voice once, but to no avail. It's as if it doesn't think
you've got something better to do at the weekend. And, have you noticed
that as soon as you cut your front lawn, your neighbours cut theirs and
make yours look long again. It's exasperating.
I'm firmly of the opinion that grass, along with
its associated felons (dandelions, daisies, clover, moss etc.), is trying
to take over the world. You're bound to have noticed how it sneakily sprouts
up between the gaps in the pavement and in the flowerbeds when nobody's
looking. It waits till you step inside to catch the latest Test Match score
and ping! There it is, looking like it owned the place. It's the summer
equivalent of acid rain. It only smells nice when you mow it as a rather
poor PR exercise in damage limitation. Tough ! Its image is irreparably
tarnished. That nice Mr. Alan Titchmarsh of BBC 'Garden Force' fame has
the right idea. Dig up the grass and shovel in the gravel.
And then, today I was minding my own business when
I realised that grass makes a very good theological point. As much as I
hate to say something nice about the gruesome green ghoul, it's a terrific
illustration for Hebrews 10:22 and no mistake. The verse says this: "Let
us draw near to God with a sincere heart..."
Grass, sincere? Absolutely! Unlike we rebellious
human beings it's doing exactly what it's supposed to do according to the
original plan of creation, but then that's really a side issue. It's in
the drawing near business where grass is such a good illustration. The
writer to the Hebrews is describing the essential characteristics of true
believers and the first trait is that they will be people who draw near
to God, always seeking their Lord in everything they do. It will be in
reading the Bible, prayer, contemplation, and in obedient living as a member
of the Church community, telling out the gospel. In short, they will be
those continually growing in holiness.
Now then, grass sets about the business of growing with
a vengeance. It is single minded about it and never even stops to imagine
that it might not actually reach the heavens. It's going to get there no
matter what it takes and so up it goes. Even the occasional coming of the
Great Flymo Blade ( a bit like an apocalyptic horseman) doesn't dent its
resilience. Grow, grow, grow, because there's somewhere worth getting to
that's much better than here. That's what our attitude must be like, and
it has to remain so even when the Lord flymoes us through trials and hardships.
You see, the important thing is that if we're growing, if we're actively
drawing near to our Lord, then we're not backsliding, and when the cosmic
flymo to end all flymos comes it will pass over us while all around us
is total devastation and we will live on in the great prairie in the sky
for eternity.
(Whatever you're smoking can we have some
please, man? - Ed)
Sure dude. Just regular grass, man!