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The Dandelion Principle by Thomas W. Long "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.”—Matthew 6:28-29 NIV Dandelions, the perfect lawn’s nemesis, taken individually, are one of God’s “lilies of the field.” Have you ever seen a yard filled with them? In the spring, the brown, winter burnt grass is overlain with rosettes of green vegetation. It has been suggested that these rough, jagged leaves, resembling lion’s teeth are the basis from the French name Dent de Lion—teeth of a lion. Others have suggested that the name comes from the flower which resembles the ruff of a male lion. When in flower, the yard is pure gold and, in seed, it looks like a field covered in an early morning, misty fog. The Dandelion is a staple in the bees’ production of honey from early spring to late fall. The young leaves of the Dandelion can be a welcome fresh addition to spring salads and sandwiches or boiled and eaten like spinach. The flowers can be made into Dandelion Wine, a tonic that is good for the blood. The roots can be dried, roasted, and ground into a powder as an excellent, non-caffeinated substitute for coffee—Dandelion Coffee—that is good for the liver and kidney functions. Children all across the northern hemisphere enjoy plucking the matured flower head and blowing the seed ball apart to watch the seed ‘parachutes’ float away in the breeze. The lowly dandelions could be compared to the Christians. The ‘world’ looks at them as blight upon their view of perfection, not knowing that Christians are a staple for the production of the true sweetness of life; nourishment in the barrenness of their bleak winter; and tonics for the ills of their diseased lives. As Christians mature and God’s influence comes to fruition in their lives, the Holy Spirit’s soft breath disperses the results into the surrounding influence of their lives. There the seeds are trampled, germinate and die, grow for a while, or take root and grow (cf. Matthew 13:1-23) to produce more of God’s “lilies of the field.” Humble Pie by Thomas W. Long Did you ever have to eat ‘humble pie?’ The expression is derived from umble pie. Umbles (tripe) were considered inferior food and in medieval times the pie was often served to lower-class people. It was written with and without an “h” and since the sound "h" is often dropped in many dialects, and "umble" was a humble meal anyway, the phrase was reborn as "humble pie". The popularity of the dish among 15th and 16th century commoners in Britain gave rise to the expression "eating humble pie." If someone were to tell you, “Do what I tell you to do, because I am gentle and humble in heart,” what would you think of that person. Would you think, ‘Of all the proud and arrogant people—who wants to follow someone like that?’ In an old country song, Mac Davis said, “It's hard to be humble when you're perfect in every way.” If you knew who was asking you to do that ‘something,’ would that make a difference? In truth, the one asking us to do that ‘something’ was actually the only one who is “perfect in every way.” The one asking is Jesus. In spite of being so perfect, He was humility personified. "Come to Me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. All of you, take up My yoke and learn from Me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for yourselves. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." [Matthew 11:28-30, HCSB] Being the “perfect” example we can eat humble pie and learn how to be truly humble. By the way, Jesus says it (humility) is for all of us and by learning to be humble we can find rest in a world where turmoil is the norm. And that is not tripe! The old hymn (Humble Thyself to Walk) by Johnson Oatman, Jr. says: If thou wouldst have the dear Savior from heaven Walk by thy side from the morn till the even, There is a rule that each day you must follow: Humble thyself to walk with God. Humble thyself and the Lord will draw near thee, Humble thyself and His presence shall cheer thee; He will not walk with the proud or the scornful, Humble thyself to walk with God. Weak Strength, Strong Weakness by Thomas W. Long Therefore, so that I would not exalt myself, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to torment me so I would not exalt myself. Concerning this I pleaded with the Lord three times to take it away from me. But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may reside in me. So because of Christ, I am pleased in weaknesses, in insults, in catastrophes, in persecutions, and in pressures. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 7b-10, HCSB) Paul, arguably the strongest of Christian authors, speaks of a “thorn in the flesh” that would keep him from the pride in his accomplishments. Paul, the writer of much of the New Testament, was in no danger or becoming puffed up with pride because God had given him a “thorn” in his flesh. This gracious gift from God, unpleasant though it was, reminded Paul of his limitations and kept him humble. Whatever his ‘thorn’ was, Paul believed God allowed Satan to torment him and thus in his weaknesses, God made him strong. Society today teaches us to build on our strengths for success. When we operate with our strengths, we tend to trust more in them than we do in God. God knows that next to Him, our greatest strengths are as weakest of the weak. He tells us to use His strength to build our weaknesses into His strengths. Our strengths help us place our best foot forward, but God, working through our weaknesses, helps us run. No Shortcuts by Thomas W. Long ‘There are no shortcuts to anyplace worth going’ read the advice on a page of the calendar. Shortcuts are so tempting. “Look at all the time or money we’ll save!” But when the road we’ve taken ends at an unbridged watercourse that the map doesn’t show and we have to backtrack, it ends up taking far longer than if we had taken the long way around to start with. We decide to purchase the less expensive parts for our project and, when the cheaper part wears out more quickly or breaks, we end up having to purchase another part or the better part we could have used in the first place. In Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan, Christian is persuaded to take a shortcut on his journey. At first the path is easier than the road he had left. Then rocky obstacles appear, causing slowdowns, and a sudden, deadly drop-off nearly stops his journey completely. Christian then has to backtrack to get back onto the right road. The Bible says, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.” (Proverbs 14:12 and 16:25) Like Christian, we, too, are tempted to take shortcuts in our Christian walk—reading our Bibles on Sunday should last all week—a prayer before meals should be enough talking with God—using our personal income without personally giving back to God (surely He understands!)—and the shortcut list goes on. By trying to take a shortcut, we are actually cutting God short and, in the end, cut ourselves short! We try to convince ourselves that what we are doing is alright without taking into account that “in the end it leads to death.” Some would read the first and last chapters of a book, then, claim to have read the book. The introduction and conclusion give one the gist of the story, but the meat of the story is missed. One can be introduced to Jesus and know he expects to greet us at the end of time, but if one never gets to know Jesus between the two, then one can expect a ‘who are you?’ (cf. Matthew 7:21-23) If heaven is worth going to, then ‘There are no shortcuts to anyplace worth going.’
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