Slugs and snails...

The annual effort to grow our own veggies is looking rather grim. Although the lettuce and spinach have sprouted, those which I’ve transplanted into the soil have largely disappeared despite all my efforts to hold the monopods at bay. 

The ones waiting in the seed trays are waterlogged from the deluges of last week. I know that there is farming in my ancestry but it sure isn’t apparent.

Jesus told a parable about planting, but maybe it pertained more to an arid climate than to a Scottish one. He missed out the seed that fell on soil that swarmed with hungry snails and slugs. There, all were devoured except those surrounded by chemical slug killer. Then there was the seed which was carefully nurtured in seed trays, but the trays had no drainage and the seedlings became inundated and eventually root bound.

Make of that what you will! For myself, I see some people I know struggling to hang on despite the attacks of slimy predators, who are hungry for the tender leaves of growing faith. They need the protection of older Christians praying but proactively coming alongside and repelling the temptations, doubts, and insinuations which can eat away at faith until it is no longer there.

I see others whose faith keeps them firmly planted in a safe church setting. Good worship and teaching need to be shared, passed on, worked out within the community and world in which we live. Without regular ‘drainage’ we become complacent, fat and root-bound. We cease growing and eventually shrivel and die.

Monday morning is here. Time to be out there sharing God’s goodness with those who are hurting and fragile in faith, and those who are yet to meet Jesus.