Our friend, Noe, tried to nurse them along, but without much luck. He tossed the seeds out and forgot about them until a volunteer plant sprouted and grew over 8' tall. It started growing in September and has lots of fruit. The tomato is a heirloom Roma, Debarao, that is very prolific. Today, Noe said Karen can have the honor of cutting the first tomato. Success, just plant in the right season!
You know, this is how I think our lives will probably shake out. All the things we did which we thought were great accomplishments and achievements, things we believed would produce an abundance of fruit, this kind of stuff may well turn out to be uneventful in eternity. But... the seemingly small, even meaningless and routine activities, well these might be like the tomato seeds "thrown out for dead," where one inconspicuous "dead" seed surprisingly produces an abundance of world class tomatoes. I tend to think that religion -- especially -- exacerbates a form of self-worth that is largely delusional. Several words of wisdom come to mind: The least among you in this life will be the greatest in the Kingdom of God. The first in this life will be last, and the last will be first. Unless a seed falls to the ground and dies it will not bear fruit. The widow's mite. And on and on. I think our "Christian culture" breeds something in the human heart that often looks and feels like it's going in the opposite direction, such as the greatest will be greatest, the most talented will be first, those who give the most money are the most generous.
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