It has been a long wait. Seven years ago I dug 40 holes and put out 40 tender young seedlings, and at long last they are mature and bearing fruit. That's how we got our blueberries and it is how our society has gotten the jam it is in.
Anyone with any discernment at all can see the fruit being born of the American cultural soil. Dissention and divisions are sprouting at all levels from politics to race to religion to sexual orientations. The kudzu and honeysuckle of apathy and despair are rooting across the spirit of Americans like creeping vine. Families and communities are splintered like thistle seed by the winds of social experimentation, entertainment gone wrong, and an educational system that over reaches to where it should not and under performs where it should. In far too many ways our society is producing 'bad fruit' and that fruit reaches into the churches. In fact, it originates in them.
I've lost a few blueberry plants over the years. Some just died. Bugs? Blight? Disease? I don't know what caused their demise--they just didn't make it despite my best efforts to give them life. There have been some threats to them that I have stopped. Tent worms, Japanese beetles, and interesting groups of caterpillars that attacked one season. Weeds are another threat we've continually fought. Most recently, a vinegar spray and 6 inches of a highly acidic sawdust mulch have helped stunt the weeds (that dislike acid) while giving the berry bushes a boost (blueberries love acidic soil). Protecting them is a constant battle, but worth the larger and sweeter yield.
What's wrong with America? How is it that our good fruit is less and less? Who should take the blame for our national schizophrenia? These are the right questions, but the answer is not the worms, the beetles, or the weeds. The answer is 'the caregiver'. My blueberries are plump and ripe because I have been diligent in caring for them. Societies become unhealthy because those in charge of their nurturing fail to do so.
So, who failed? Was it government? No. Family? No. Government and family are merely people; their behaviors are fruit born of their care giving. Is the problem the church? If 'the church' is understood to be the organization(s) that meet on Saturdays or Sundays then, no again.
Where we find the problem is where we will discover the solution. Understanding the true root of the matter is vital to recovery. So, here it is...the root of the problem... is you.
You are the cause of all the trouble, all the mess, all the strife. You are the one drowning your own children, manipulating Wall Street, sending guns to drug cartels, shackling the poor into the stocks of poverty, sucking infants from the womb through steel straws! It is Y O U. .....and it is me.
Individuals comprise societies. We are not, nor can we be handled as herds or masses. In the end, nations, communities, even churches are individuals. The cause and the solution rest with each gardener.
Start with Y O U. I'll start with me. Set your own roots in good soil. Give careful attention to the rearing of your children, the nurture of your grandchildren. Pull the weeds of injustice, squash the societal insects that feed on immorality, racism, hateful speech, dishonesty, rebellion, envy, disrespect of parents, and discord and which result in societal death. Work your garden well and in a few years-- maybe a couple of generations-- we should all begin to realize the sweet and productive lives we have long hoped for; no longer will we be in the pickle we're in today.
PS. For how to start, do some heavy duty thinking about John 15:5.
All material copyrighted by Stephen Meeks
