Green Grass and Septic Tanks

Erma Bombeck was a humorist writer who has since passed on and although I never read much of her stuff something she wrote stuck in my head. The title of her book, “The Grass Is Always Greener Over The Septic Tank”. I can’t tell you what it was about but I have often given deeper thought to that one line.

How lush green grass can be. Soft like carpet, with lovely blades of freshness to tickle your bare toes when you walk on it. Some of the best days of spring are spent lying on your back in a plush bed of grass to stare at the moving clouds in a blue sky. Yes, those moments are wonderful to contemplate and thrilling when you get a chance to actually do them.

I wondered about the power of knowledge? If one actually knew they were lying on top of a septic tank and it was leeching its contents into the ground, and this was the reason your plush bed was so green….would we be so keen to lie on it?

Life can be a lot like that green grass bed. Something that looks so good to our eyes can often hide truth beneath. The flip side to that thought is how something that looks undesirable can hide treasures unknown. I long to see with eyes that are not distracted by the superfluous. I long to see the wolf in the sheep’s clothing. I long to see the prince who wears the rags of a pauper. I long to see the truth in myself. Laying in the soft green grass I long to close my eyes and see what is real.

Proverbs 3:21 My son, preserve sound judgment and discernment, do not let them out of your sight

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