ScribeLife

Advertising works. Thus we tried the Topsy Turvy Tomato planter this year, that novel invention where your planter hangs up high to avoid all weed pulling and thwart the cutworms and promising a great crop thereby. We bought the planter, carefully chose a “Better Bush” tomato plant, and assembling all, hung it by our front porch with care. Here is our harvest:

This beauty is it. One solitary, lovely tomato. Indeed, pulled no weeds, warred with no cutworms…ONE beautiful tomato. We made a ceremony out of harvesting it; no careless swift plucking of this baby! And now it is in the house, awaiting its purpose, still commanding reverence. Even while it seems silly to me, inescapably, I don’t want to make this decision lightly, because we only got ONE. What to do with it? Shall I drizzle olive oil on it, top it with basil? Shall I have the Grillmeister (Ron) put it on the grill with some other summer veggies? Shall I use it for a crown on our dinner salads? Shall I just cut it open and eat it out of hand? How to consume the life of my one home-grown, topsy turvy tomato?

And being the Bible teacher that I am, designed by God to search for and reveal His lesson in EVERYTHING, I’m pondering not just the tomato’s fate, but my own reaction to it. If there had been 10 tomatoes, or five, or even two, I don’t believe this dilemma would be upon me, and this tomato would seem ordinary, lost in the crowd, probably down my gullet by now. But no, its solitary uniqueness has caused it to become sort of holy in my sight; I feel a responsibility to use to its very best potential. And, get ready for it….. Does God the creator face this same wonderment of possibility and purpose regarding each one of his uniquely created individuals?