Do you know where the grass is greener? Let me tell you where the grass is greener right now: Van Zandt County, Texas. As I was traveling along the Interstate with my mind casually wandering, it suddenly struck me how green the grass is along the side of the road. I’m talking a rich, vibrant green! The reason this was so noticeable to me is that I’ve become accustomed to looking at brown grass in Texas. It isn’t always brown, but it has been brown enough that the green provided a stark contrast. Why is the grass so green right now? My guess is that it has been raining like crazy for the last week! I don’t know how many inches we’ve received in the recent days, but I think the scientific term would be “a bunch.” The ground has been drinking deeply of its nourishment, and the grass is responding in proud display.
This makes me think of springtime when we were living in West Virginia. As the weather would start to shift from wintry to spring-like, the grass would come out of its dormancy and begin to flourish. Of course, spring rains are common in that part of the country, so once the grass decided to grow, it was off to the races. For someone like myself, this is bad news. One of the things I loved about wintertime in West Virginia was the absence of lawn mowing. I despise mowing grass. I know there are people who enjoy mowing grass. My lovely wife is one of them. Personally I consider it an illness, but who am I to judge? Springtime, therefore, brought the inevitable beginning of grass-mowing season.
Mother nature has been known to lay a sinister trap for me at that time of year. The lawn, just beginning to awaken from slumber, sends me the sly message: “Don’t worry about me. You won’t need to mow for weeks yet.” Then I look out one day and it has grown half way up my shins. I say, “Hey, what gives!?” It just looks at me and smiles. Adding to the problem is the likelihood that the grass is wet because, well, it’s been raining. So much for mowing. The next step is to look at the weather forecast to plan my day of fun. Usually it would look like this: rain today, rain tomorrow, cloudy early, rain in the afternoon, clear overnight with rain the next morning. Sunday will be dry and sunny! (I don’t mow grass on Sunday. It is the one Pharisaic trait I have.) Monday? Rain. And on it goes. Some years it goes so long that I have considered trading the lawn mower for a herd of goats. While my wife and daughters would have loved it, I doubt that the neighbors would have been impressed.
Don’t get me wrong. I do enjoy the smell of freshly cut grass. I enjoy it all the more when someone else is the one cutting it. My aversion for cutting grass aside, I do appreciate even the common expressions of natural beauty, including grass. God gives us continual opportunities to behold His glory in creation. Sometimes it can be in something as simple as grass. I would encourage you to take notice of the ways that God’s majesty shows forth. It is not hard to see, if we have eyes to notice. The grass is always greener—when God waters it!
“Lord of all, to thee we raise this our hymn of grateful praise.”
See you along the winding path…
The Winding Path 