Ugly!
Posted by: forthrightmag <forthrightmag@...>
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COLUMN: CONSIDER THE LILIES
Ugly!
by Christine Berglund
forthright.net/2012/10/21/ugly/
Black Krim is the worst-looking variety of tomato that
I have ever grown.
Here it is October, and we finally got a few out of the
garden that hadn't rotted on the vine. Oh, sure, we
should have staked them up to keep them off the ground,
because it's not my favorite pastime to cut up a tomato
that a bug or critter has already half-devoured.
But we had an overabundance of cherry tomatoes this
year, and were eating them like candy. Who needs ugly
tomatoes that look like they had been in a boxing ring,
and lost? Me.
After a few weeks of seeing my crop lost to the birds,
bugs, and bunnies, I finally picked a few that were
still way too green on top. After all, the nighttime
temperatures kept threatening a freeze. Who would have
guessed that these were actually perfectly ripe
tomatoes?
So I made the classic bacon, lettuce and tomato
sandwich; and decided that henceforth, every other BLT
shall be judged on how well it replicates the taste of
that Black Krim masterpiece. It was one of the most
delectable things that has ever crossed my lips!
My knowledge of this type of tomato, new to my garden,
had been totally insufficient. I had not done my
homework!
Consequently I pre-judged these superb fruits to be
unripe, unworthy of my table. They were dark green on
top, obvious to me that they were not ready to eat.
Their purple hue resembled bruises, and most were
scarred with ugly cracks. How wrong I was!
Prejudice is a scary thing. While my tomatoes didn't
care whether they ended up on the compost heap or my
plate, what about people we pre-judge? They get hurt,
but we also lose out when we think poorly of others
without cause.
How many friendships are not made because of prejudice?
We may have heard something about someone, and never
given them, or ourselves, a chance. So many
opportunities and relationships are missed.
Judging on first appearances or on what we think we
know is not good enough. I thought I knew a green
tomato when I saw it. My new variety proved me wrong.
It was already ripe, begging to be enjoyed at my table.
Instead, I waited too long before harvesting, allowing
them to crack and rot.
Jesus Christ and Christianity can be similarly looked
at as undesirable.
"For He shall grow up before Him as a tender
plant, And as a root out of dry ground. He
has no form or comeliness; And when we see
Him, There is no beauty that we should
desire Him" (Isaiah 53:2 NKJV).
Our artists and moviemakers portray Jesus as good-
looking, with European features. This passage from
Isaiah makes me wonder if he resembled my Black Krims.
It doesn't matter what his physical appearance was, he
was the perfect Son of God, and the only salvation for
fallen mankind.
His suffering on the cross made him an object of
ridicule and a cause for stumbling for some. How can a
beaten, bloody man do anything to affect our eternity?
But he has! He has done everything!
Does Christianity look foolish or unworthy to you?
"But we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews
a stumbling block and to the Greeks
foolishness, but to those who are called,
both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of
God and the wisdom of God" (I Corinthians
1:23, 24).
Look closely. Judge wisely.
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