choose wisely

There is a scene in the third Indiana Jones movie when the villain chooses from an array of cups, seeking the real holy grail. Drinking from the false one causes him to wither up and die. The guardian of the Grail says, "He choose poorly".

There is a parable in this week's Bible lesson, an example Jesus gave, about choosing wisely. It is the parable of the tares and the wheat. All of his listeners understood how frustrating it can be, and how devastating to a crop, to find intrusive weeds in your field. Especially when you have started with the finest seed and carefully prepared and tended the ground. All of us know how frustrating it can be to start out with the best thoughts, carefully work with a project we hope to bring to fruition, only to find that the problem does not yield, the challenge is not overcome, the job does not appear, no new clients sign on. We are shocked and disappointed. Like the man's servants, we look around to see who is to blame. But that wise man did not react quickly to the presence of the weeds and we should not react quickly to the appearance of error in the form of a false idea. False things have no real basis and they will not last. The wise man was willing to be patient and to trust in the value of the good seed that had been planted, the good work that had been done. The error would be easy to identify in time, as would the wheat, and they would then be separated. The tares are gathered and burned. The good wheat harvested. That right idea was allowed to grow strong and get established, well developed. He couldn't bring that field into perfect condition immediately, but he knew what the final outcome would be if allowed to come to maturity undisturbed. We never need to make a big deal out of problems. That usually just makes things worse. Keep watching the good seed, trust in it.

I look forward to 'digging in' to the rest of the lesson!