Grass

Grass is a remarkable creation. It can go for weeks without water, wither to brown prickles, and be overcome by weeds, yet with a little bit of rain, it returns with a vengeance in all it's green glory. For example, I mowed our yard sometime in the third week of July. Due to lack of rain, it did not need to be mowed the following week. The green color was gone, and even the usually virulent weeds seemed a bit stagnant. My commercial mowing jobs were suffering similar fate, resulting in decreased work hours and thus income. Not until the 2nd of August did I cut my grass again, after a rain shower the previous weekend. Six days later (on August the 8th for those keeping score at home) following several more rains, I cut my grass again. Today, August the 11th, marked the first mowing day in nearly three months when every single stop on our mowing route received a haircut and trim. And at the rate my lawn is growing, it should probably be mowed again on Saturday.

All this factual information may be boring you, so let me get to the point. The Bible mentions in Psalm 103:15 that man is like grass which withers so easily, the point in that context being the comparison between the frailty of man and the strength of God. However, in Isaiah 66:14, in the context of the comfort of the Lord, the prophet says "Your bones shall flourish like the tender grass, and the hand of Jehovah shall be known toward his servants." Although we frail humans can wither easily like the grass, so too when we receive the power of the Lord through his Holy Spirit and the comfort and joy that comes with it, we rise again to flourish and give a testimony to the faithfulness of our God. Such is our purpose. May we not soon forget it.

~ Socrates