Murder Mystery 🧐

When I spotted these brown evergreens it made me wonder. Evergreens aren’t meant to be brown. It’s in their name. 

What happened that turned these young saplings from their hopeful green future to this lifeless clone army?

Since ALL (not simply one) were decimated, my first guess was disease. It rains aplenty here. Lack of moisture didn’t seem the likely answer.

However, when I did my research I unearthed that a discolored evergreen wasn’t the consequence of disease. The culprit is, in fact, not enough water. 

Neverthess, this answer didn’t satisfy me. It perplexed me. These trees were growing in a location I like to refer to as the Dead Marshes for it’s likenesses to the Dead Marshes in Lord of the Rings.

This area floods when we have heavy rain…

So how could this army have died by drought in such a wetland? 🧐

My next clue was a curious mention: Ice bound roots can prevent uptake of moisture and cause the needles to turn brown. We did have an icy winter…. 🤔

Nope, I still didn’t prefer this answer. It’s plausible, but these Everbrowns looked like they’d been dead for quite a time.

Then it came to me! A vision of the brown bushes in our backyard. Their demise was a consequence of our record breaking heat-wave last Summer. That’s it! That’s what happened! Those saplings didn’t stand a chance in that heat-wave.

Unfortunately, these trees and bushes weren’t the only casualties. Many other lives were lost in the Province of B.C. One region reached 46.6 Celsius. That’s the highest recorded temperature in Canada. [Source: globalnews.ca]

Even so, what doesn’t kill us can make us stringer. Life’s plagues can help us to grow. We can learn from severe weather. We can also learn from loss. As difficult as our troubles can be, it’s always better to choose growth than to become a victim of circumstance or die in our transgressions. It’s also better to be late to the party than to never show up at all. Whether we live or die, Jesus death and resurrection assures the true believer that there is still life after death. 

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The Wheat and Spelt Grow up Later….

Now the flax and the barley were struck, for the barley was in the ear, and the flax was in bud.  But the wheat and the spelt were not struck, for they grow up later.

So Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh and spread out his hands to the Lord, and the thunders and hail ceased, and the rain was no longer poured upon the earth.  However, when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunders were ceased, he sinned yet more, and hardened his heart, he and his servants.

Exodus 9:31-34 (Modern English Version) 

Jesus invites all. But not everyone takes the invite seriously. 

The Story of the Wedding Banquet

Jesus responded by telling still more stories. “God’s kingdom,” he said, “is like a king who threw a wedding banquet for his son. He sent out servants to call in all the invited guests. And they wouldn’t come!

“He sent out another round of servants, instructing them to tell the guests, ‘Look, everything is on the table, the prime rib is ready for carving. Come to the feast!’

“They only shrugged their shoulders and went off, one to weed his garden, another to work in his shop. The rest, with nothing better to do, beat up on the messengers and then killed them. The king was outraged and sent his soldiers to destroy those thugs and level their city.

“Then he told his servants, ‘We have a wedding banquet all prepared but no guests. The ones I invited weren’t up to it. Go out into the busiest intersections in town and invite anyone you find to the banquet.’ The servants went out on the streets and rounded up everyone they laid eyes on, good and bad, regardless. And so the banquet was on—every place filled.

“When the king entered and looked over the scene, he spotted a man who wasn’t properly dressed. He said to him, ‘Friend, how dare you come in here looking like that!’ The man was speechless. Then the king told his servants, ‘Get him out of here—fast. Tie him up and ship him to hell. And make sure he doesn’t get back in.’

“That’s what I mean when I say, ‘Many get invited; only a few make it.’”

Matthew 22:1-14 (The Message)