There is a very common weed that grows in lawns and fields that has deep notches in its leaves shaped like teeth. The French call the plant dentde lion, which means “lions tooth.” From this we get the word dandelion.
The dandelion is a most efficient weed. It spreads broad leaves out from its base to choke off surrounding grasses. The giant taproot can cut down a foot into the ground to leach every nutrient and drop of water out of it. Homeowners seeing their lawn give way bit by bit to this weed, seeing the lovely yellow heads of the dandelions change to fluff that fills the yard and makes them sneeze, might decide to do something about it, like stabbing a blade down around the root and jerking the plant out. But if that is their remedy, they will find to their dismay that a month later the familiar leaves will again be creeping dizzily over the yard.
The dandelion has to be removed to the very bottom of its long and clinging root. If one little part of root is left, it begins methodically working its way back to the surface, where it will again choke out the good growth. Partially uprooted dandelions seem to come back stronger than ever.
When trouble comes, when life tumbles in around us, when disappointment breaks our hearts, when sorrow grips our spirits - we have a choice: We can grow bitter, or we can get better!
Like dandelions, the roots of bitterness must be rooted out to the bottom. The Bible has a good example of this when Jesus taught the disciples about the one unclean spirit cast out of a man. If the man does not thoroughly root it out and replace it with the living Spirit, the fruit of the spirit, the vacant space will be filled worse than ever. Like the dandelion root not cleanly extracted, bitterness, with its defiling, unclean spirit, will grow again and send forth those little parachute-like fluffy seeds to multiply and manifest.
With “the roots of bitterness” - like the roots of dandelions - it is a take-noprisoners approach that is needed. Unless the whole root is extracted, it will regenerate and bitterness will rear its ugly head once more. Webster defines “bitterness” as “sharp and disagreeable.”
E. Stanley Jones, using a metaphor from his beloved country of India, where he was a missionary for a generation, reminds us that if a cobra is cornered, it will often become so angry that it will literally bite itself. That is exactly what harboring hate and resentment is... biting ourselves. We sometimes think we are hurting others by holding on to spite and bitter feelings, and sometimes we do. But the deeper hurt is to ourselves!
Harry Emerson Fosdick, in one of his sermons, said: “Bitterness imprisons life, love releases it. Bitterness paralyzes life; love empowers it. Bitterness sours life; love sweetens it. Bitterness sickens life; love heals it. Bitterness blinds life; love anoints the eyes.”
“What is the quickest, easiest way to empty a glass of air?” a science teacher asked a group of students. Someone suggested that one way would be to pump it out. “That would create a vacuum and the glass would break,” the teacher said. When no one had any other suggestions, the teacher took a pitcher of water and filled the glass to the brim. ‘’The easiest solution J know of,” the teacher said, “is to displace the air with water.”
So, too, with bitterness. The easiest way is not just to eradicate the sour feeling; the better way is to let love and forgiveness enter your life to where it pushes out the bitterness. When disappointment comes, when heartache comes, when trouble comes, the choice is ours, and the option is clear: We can get bitter, or we can get better.
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July 26, 2020 at 11:17PM
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FAITH AND VALUES: Getting bitter or getting better? - Aiken Standard
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