Teaching The Next Generation About Thorns And Nettles

“I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding; And, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down. Then I saw, and considered it well: I looked upon it, and received instruction.”—Proverbs 24:30-32.

My guess is that Solomon loved the opportunity to get out of the office, forget about his political and judicial responsibilities and wander off into the countryside for some fresh air and a chance to decompress. Probably incognito.

One day as he was out walking down a country road in his kingdom, he looked over the broken wall of a small country estate. The small farm consisted of some plowed land as well as a vineyard. A quick glance revealed to him the land was owned by a sluggard who left it horribly neglected. Weeds were everywhere and the place was badly broken down.

Solomon, being a man of wisdom paused for a moment and wondered what could be learned from such a display. You see, Solomon knew instruction lies everywhere if we can pause, reflect and take the time to see beyond the surface. To the wise and reflective soul, nettles and weeds are powerful story tellers and great teachers. Now, I’m sure that Solomon wasn’t a big fan of thistles and nettles by themselves. But he knew lessons could be learned not only from the created world but also from the managers and the stewards of that created world.

Yes, Solomon thought… a lot of people get “stung” by nettles… but very few learn anything from the event. Further, a lot of folks get caught up in thorns, burrs and briars, but Solomon knew his life could be improved by paying close attention to such things. His advice for those souls troubled by weeds? Grip them firmly and learn much from them for your temporal benefit as well as your soul’s improvement.

Trials, troubles and turmoil (like nettle stings) can serve us well if we will let them. Like Solomon, we’d be wise to consider the many problems in life as “blessings” receiving instruction from them. In the passage above, I love the fact that Solomon tells us that lazy people are void of understanding. That’s useful information. I know a lot of gardeners who can talk for hours about growing anything and everything under the sun. They act as if gardening knowledge by itself has value They seem to believe that your hands don’t have to get dirty. They are, in Solomon’s words “sluggards” who brag about ideas. But real wisdom is practical. Real wisdom tills, plants, hoes, fertilizes and makes the best of whatever situation comes up during the growing season.

Lots of lesson here for our kids. And the garden is one of the best places on earth to teach wisdom for living well. First, we have to be honest with our kids and grandkids when we teach these lessons. Lessons like… “if you let weeds grow, they choke out good seeds”. But there’s another lesson, just as profound. Just as important…

If you can nourish and cultivate good seeds, so they grow up fast and strong… they will choke out the bad seeds. Powerful. That’s why we work hard in the garden in the spring, just as we work hard to nourish and cultivate when our kids are young.

It’s a pretty sad thing when parents and grandparents don’t use their gardens to cultivate a strong family. How sad a thing to say … “my family garden grew up in nettles and thorns”. The fact is, there’s no neutrality when raising kids or growing vegetables. Our gardens always producing something. We are always growing or producing “fruit” of some sort.

Bottom line: Kids not nourished… kids not cultivated… eventually sting like nettles. What could be more important than to cultivate a child’s heart? How I wish parents and grandparents would embrace this so today’s kids aren’t spiritually neglected like the sluggard’s farm. How I wish we could prune our own “half-hearted” attitudes.

Know this… it is our duty to both plant and prune. Both in our garden and with our family. This year let’s commit to making our gardens “classrooms” for the next generation. Our kids need to work with you in the dirt so they can experience the pleasure of hard work and feel the pure joy of seeing our best efforts turn into precious fruit.