The Cracked Acorn: Green

“a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey” (Ex 3:8)

It was a fortunate experience for me during my years with Army Map Service (Defense Department) that on a returning African work assignment, the flight at 10,000 feet took us up the Suez corridor, heading north with the  Sinai  Peninsula (east) and Egypt (west).

The Sinai is totally desert, believe me, there is nothing that is green. A study of ancient history might go to show that three thousand years ago, it was forested and that the trees were cut for charcoal for Egypt, so learned scholars have noted.

Our lives depend on the color green.  A few inches of topsoil is our bread of life.  “Farmland lost is gone forever,” so says a bumper sticker. This may pose a problem in the future if flatland is used more and more for shopping centers, etc…  Now:

Looking back through the years when there were more small family farms,  I learned early that the color green was very important. Green grass is necessary for livestock, and green grass holds the soil together.

Every year  our family farm was a mystery weather-wise, we did not know if the  rain would come  at the right time for the corn, wheat, and pastures, the future all depended on the ‘promise of the coming green.’

Lots of green meant that there was shopping prior to the Christmas holidays, maybe some new clothes and shoes, a short vacation across State lines, and a chance to put more into the church basket and to stop the bank from telephoning that the checking account was short.

Above all, we should pray as our Wimpy did for good weather and rain and add green to that prayer, long or short.

“The Lord bless you and keep you;25 the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you;26 the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace. ” – Numbers 6

Two Saber-toothed tigers(Ralph & Roy) were relaxing under a Catalpa tree, and off in the distance, two cavemen were strolling and eating berries from leafy green bushes.  This was all very interesting to watch by the tigers.

“Hey! Ralph, Do you see those two cavemen?”
“Yeah, and did you notice that they have stopped eating berries and now have clubs and are creeping toward us!”
“I do see that, Roy, and I think that their intentions towards us are not honorable.  We’ll let them get closer, and then we’ll let out a big roar.”
“RRROOOAAARRR! !!”
“Ralph, what are they doing now?”
“They are back to eating berries in those green bushes”

and last:(Tom Jones,1966)
Yes, they’ll all come to meet me
Arms reaching, smiling sweetly
It’s good to touch the green, green grass of home
Yes, they’ll all come to see me
In the shade of that old oak tree
As they lay me
‘Neath the green, green grass of home.