An Answer To A Question

I love to wave to my neighbors when I walk.
Depending on the time I set out, I can usually guess who I will see.
Some are leaving for work and now the children are at the bus stop.
It is lovely to know your neighbors.

The trash and recycling truck drivers get a wave.
The bus drivers get a wave.
The workmen who happen to be in the neighborhood get a wave.
Friendliness makes for such a pleasant morning.

My neighbor down the street loves to work outside.
His yard attests to that fact.
A tributary of the Brandywine River runs along his property.
He has set up a cozy bench with nets and buckets for the children to catch tadpoles.

He mentioned to me that a young man once stopped to tell him how he loved that bench.
He asked my neighbor if he could ever come and sit there.
My neighbor told him that he is welcome any time.
I am certain that young man has come to sit on the bench by the water.

When I saw my neighbor, I decided that I would ask him a question.
It was a question I had been tumbling and tried to research a bit on my own.
Can I ask you something? I said as I passed by.
He walked towards me.

Why are the leaves falling at the end of August? I asked really wanting to know.
Does it have to do with the amount of rain?
I felt that if I had not stopped, my questions would come in rapid fire.
Here let me show you, he said as he pointed towards a tree on his lawn.

We live on a tree lined street.
It is beautiful in the fall; my heart is happy every time I drive down the street.
The trunks of some of the trees have gotten very dark, almost black.
It must be a blight, a few neighbors said.

Not every tree is the type of tree that is getting dark.
We do not have those kinds of trees on our front lawn.
They seem to have been planted at the entrance of our street.
I followed him to the tree.

See that, he said, pointing.
An insect bored holes in the tree.
I saw perfectly spaced holes in a line all around the tree trunk.
One line, then a little higher, another line as far as I could see.

What are they after? I asked him amazed.
They lay their eggs in there; eventually you will see them come out, he added.
He was able to easily move the bark with his hands.
It made me sad to think that something I could not see was destroying the tree.

That’s why I’m planting new ones, he said.
I have seen him planting but then he is always making things even more beautiful.
I have fertilized those trees, he told me.
Apparently, that helped for a while but the bored holes had done its harm.

Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared. “The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’ “‘An enemy did this,’ he replied. “The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’ “‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’” (Matthew 13:24-30)

Something is boring holes in the trunks of certain trees on our street.
Something unseen.
An enemy of beauty.
An intruder.

We have such an enemy.
An enemy of our souls.
The enemy is unseen, yet he wreaks havoc.
The holes of temptation, greed, anger, and unforgiveness are systematically bored into us.

There is a Gardener.
He fertilizes.
He waters.
One day there will be a harvest.

Through His Word, God makes us grow.
Through His Word, our armor is strong and not easily moved.
The enemy is conquered.
The Gardener is victorious.

Oh, what a harvest He will bring into His barn.
Yet, in the meantime…