The Beauty of Weeds

Artwork by Lauren Anderson

I'm a mom of five, three of which are boys. I love my children more than I can describe in words, and that's saying a lot considering I'm a writer. When my boys were little they used to pick what they believed to be beautiful flowers for mommy while they played out in the yard. I'd hear the pitter patter of little feet and shoes as they raced into the kitchen to give mommy their gorgeous gift. Their eyes gleamed with excitement over my expression as I took the pretty flower from their hand and made over their present. They were clueless to the fact they gifted mom with a weed!

My boys are nearly grown now. My youngest is soon to be sixteen. I haven't had weeds picked for me in quite some time until recently. I started teaching a young boy at the beginning of the year. He is dear to my heart. I love him as my own. The other day he asked if he could play outside for a little while. He came back in a few minutes later with a bright smile on his face and a beautiful gift for me in his tiny hand. I took the flower from him, kissed him on the forehead, and thanked him for thinking of me when he saw the pretty flower. I glanced down at it as he walked away and smiled at the reminder of the weeds picked for me when my three were little like that. 

That sweet little story got me to thinking. That can be a dangerous thing! ;-) My children used to watch Veggie Tales when they were young, and I watched the show they had about how rumors are like weeds. While that is true, some people are also like weeds. To the world, they are seen as pretty flowers. They stand before a mirror for an hour every morning, and they go to work and present themselves as a beautiful flower. Weeds multiple in abundance. Their flowers take over neglected ground. Innocent people are often like those sweet little boys. In their naivety they are unaware the ground they see before them is untended, and all they see are beautiful blossoms sprouting all over the place. Some of those weed-folk (that's what I'll call them) bloom all over social media in an attempt to make others see something on the surface, but that surface flower is nothing more than a disguise, hiding the invasive root system underneath. These people often say what makes them appear to be one thing (a pretty flower for example) when under the surface they have tentacles--much like roots--weaseling through the ground unseen and choking out the life of others. 

I know the sweet little story I started off with led to a message about the truth of weeds and people who are like weeds. The two might even seem contradictory, and readers may be wondering how I went from one thing to the other. I'm not sure how to answer that, outside of my original statement that the sweet little story got me to thinking! I've seen a lot of surface representation that says one thing while underneath there is a fibrous root system of anger and bitterness that seeks to smile on the surface as it destroys others with its poison. Weeds take over everything, so when you see something that seems to be popping up with a surface appeal all over the place, don't automatically assume what you are seeing is the real deal. You might want to check and see what's lingering beneath the surface.