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KUDZU, PINES AND ORIGINAL SIN
I no longer believe in original sin – and it was kudzu that
enlightened my theology! For those of you who live in the North, the
North-east, or the far West, you may not be familiar with kudzu. Those who
live in the South-east may well be more familiar with it than they would
like to be!
Wikipedia says about kudzu,
"It is a climbing, coiling and trailing vine native to
southern Japan and southeastern China.... Kudzu ... (due to its out of
control growth in the southeastern United States) has earned such
pejorative nicknames as "foot-a-night vine,"
"mile-a-minute vine," and "the vine that ate the
South" (i.e. of the United States)....
"Kudzu was introduced from Japan into the United States in
1876 at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition, where it was promoted as
a forage crop and an ornamental plant. From 1935 to the early 1950s, the
Soil Conservation Service encouraged farmers in the southeastern United
States to plant kudzu to reduce soil erosion... the Civilian
Conservation Corps planted it widely for many years.
"It was subsequently discovered that the southeastern United
States has near-perfect conditions for kudzu to grow out of control...
It was named a pest weed by the United States Department of Agriculture
in 1953."
This "vine that ate the South" now covers seven million acres
of Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, Virginia, and Texas. It
climbs up utility poles, weighs down electric and phone lines, sweeps over
trees (killing them for lack of sunlight), pours down hillsides, and
covers everything in its path with thick flexible vines and shiny dark
green leaves. It grows about a foot per day and is capable of growing
sixty feet each season.
This foreign plant invader has now been found in New Jersey, Illinois
(in 30 counties!), Florida, Oregon, and has spread to northeastern
Australia, northern Italy and was discovered in Canada in 2009. Driving
through the kudzu-covered states of the southeast is a disturbing
experience. One can’t help but wonder if that vegetational eye-sore is
going to take over the world!
What does this pushy plant have to do with original sin? The world into
which kudzu was introduced was lovely, peaceful and offered various kinds
of beauty: trees, pastures, creeks, and meadows, all good. With the spread
of kudzu, the landscape is now covered with an aggressive, ugly, and
selfish sameness.
Just so, I think, the world into which sin was introduced was beautiful
and good, a garden Genesis calls it. Sin was not a part of God’s
original creation, which was described as "Good! ... Very good!"
Human self-centeredness was introduced into this good world by an outside
influence (the Serpent), just as kudzu was imported into the U.S. from
abroad. At first it looked attractive (the forbidden fruit and the
decorative plant). It was shared and spread quickly because of its
apparent usefulness and human enjoyment (Eve to Adam and the Soil
Conservation Service to the farmers of the southeastern U.S.).
Before long, kudzu took over more and more acres of farm land,
rendering it useless. In the same way, sin takes over human thoughts and
actions with a ‘me-centered’ outlook that destroys the original beauty
of life (Adam and Eve are put out of the garden). Kudzu spreads wildly,
gobbling up mile after mile of the good earth. Sin, too, spreads rapidly
once it has infected humankind. Cain kills Abel, humans challenge God with
the Tower of Babel, and they become so wicked that God has to destroy the
whole world – except for Noah’s family – with a flood.
Agricultural scientists have spent years trying to find a way to
destroy kudzu. Herbicides have no effect upon it except for one which
makes it grow faster! God spent centuries trying to find a way to deal –
once-and-for-all – with the aggressive takeover of humans by the
infection of sin. God found it, of course, and that’s where the pines
come in.
We noticed, as we drove through the kudzu-covered southeastern states,
that wherever there were pine trees, there was little kudzu! As pine
forests became thicker, kudzu disappeared. Pine trees, not herbicides,
appear to be the answer to the destruction of kudzu.
I was curious about that phenomenon. Then I remembered some of the
characteristics of pine trees: they are sturdy, grow quickly, stand
straight and tall, towering over other trees, and they grow steadily
closer to the higher regions of the atmosphere. They soar in stately
grandeur far above the low levels swallowed up by the greedy kudzu.
I think there’s a lesson here that I want to learn. I want to spend
more time looking up at the pine trees and less time looking down on the
kudzu!
9/20/09 - mshr
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