The Sin Itch

To the left is my nemesis in the yard. The Thistle.

I had never found anything that I was allergic to until I crossed paths with this fiendish weed. I seemingly can get a rash with just one touch on bare skin. And from there, it launches a whole body invasion of rash and itch. I think I might be able to get infected if I am just down wind. Or if I rub my hand on the picture. Its prickly and seething hostility to my well-being unnerves me.

I suppose I should be thankful to the Lord that my greatest enemy right now is a plant. Could be worse indeed. My life is far too easy...we Americans are punks. We have to wait in a check-out counter for five minutes to buy a hundred pounds of food and we think we are martyrs. How 'bout having no food to wait in line for?

Periodically, I patrol the yard to do combat, practically wearing the equivalent of a Haz-Mat suit. Long sleeve shirt, pants, gloves, and plastic bags over the gloves. I was incautious the other week and did not don my normal gear. I thought if I came in to the house soon after pulling these weeds (wearing gloves and being careful) and coated my arms and legs with vinegar, I would be OK. Nope. I had escaped the wrath previously in the spring with a similar strategy. This time, no such luck. I hope not to lose the lesson.

Soon, the rash was on. Here is the odd thing. The weed does not really affect anything besides how our lawn looks. It is not like it is killing the trees, smiting the bunnies, and raising a ruckus at 2:00 a.m. It just sits there and multiplies. And since I live in Suburbia, every weed counts against my respectability score.

Things were easier when I lived in Columbia where if I mowed the lawn weekly I was already the reigning lawn champ on the block. Now, I have to pull these weeds just to not fall farther behind. There is a silent yet real scoring system where us out in the 'burbs rank ourselves on various factors, one of them being how good the yard looks. Pretty asinine, but I am part of the scheme. Another trend is coating the driveway with blacktop so it is solidly dark...not really necessary unless one has cracks in the asphalt. But boy, does it look spiffy!

After getting my most recent rash which first started on my right arm, then my belly, then my back (of all places) it reminded me of the sin nature. When we begin to trifle recklessly with the weeds spiritually, the rash sets in. What feels so pleasurable to itch just spreads the contagion. Soon, the body is aflame. The only way to fight the rash is to not succumb to itching it. Let it pass, treat it with the biblical remedy...repentance, confession, submission, and recovery. Holy Cortisone. How much wiser to just not be infected to start the downward trajectory.