Common Chicory, Location: Roadside, Veterans' Highway, Millersville, MD.

Job 31:39–40 (NKJV)

³⁹ If I have eaten its fruit without money, Or caused its owners to lose their lives;

⁴⁰ Then let thistles grow instead of wheat, And weeds instead of barley.”

Yeah, that was me. Crouching in the soaking humidity of the morning dew, trying to keep the lens somewhat clear of condensation, taking photos of a weed growing on the side of the road.

The cars kept racing by and so I don't think I caused even a rubber-necking slowdown. I chose a spot where I could park without leaving the car too close to the highway and where I could be even more removed. There were lots of places to choose from because the chicory plants lined the road for well over a mile.

Weeds get a bad rap sometimes. They can be a pain when you are wanting a nice orderly little garden and, after all, their very profusion is part of the curse on Adam. But in the same manner that "work" is not evil and "frustrating toil" was the curse, so weeds are not inherently bad things and chicory is perhaps my favorite of them all.

You can check it out on the web [Wikipedia has a good article] so I won't repeat what's readily available. Just a couple of quick facts. Did you know that chicory is one of the earliest recorded plants? It is so useful that it has played a central role in diet and medicinal use through out the ages. It can flavor salads and if properly prepared, can be eaten straight. It is an exceptionally useful plant for grazing animals adding certain dietary supplements as well as fighting off parasites in their digestive system. Of course there is always the "coffee" angle. I grew up with chicory flavored coffee as a special treat when I got to visit New Orleans (Cafe Du Monde). I always welcome the sight of the perky blue flowers juxtaposed on the gangly stalks surrounded by interesting curly tendrils during mid summer.

It's a neat plant. The flowers close in the early afternoon so you might not notice them on the afternoon commute. That's why I had to stop on the way to work rather than wait for later. I was a bit early and so the full bloom is not deployed but I kind of prefer it that way.

All that is to say that there is a world of interesting stuff near at hand in this wonderful world God has given us. Yes, as in the words of Job, weeds can represent all those frustrating aspects of every day life that sin has ushered in upon us. But that doesn't negate the fact that they are God's handiwork also. I suppose that what this teaches us is that Godly stewardship of our lives and of the things that happen in them should entail a certain restraint when we are thinking about those things that cause frustration.

Because a weed is growing where we don't want it to grow doesn't mean that we should burn the whole field to get rid of them all. Perhaps if we take time to notice those things that are causing frustation, we might find that in another scenario those same things are not only highly useful, they can be down-right beautiful. Who knows, maybe it takes a frustrating encounter to make us stop and consider more carefully what we are about. Chicory is a weed and it would be all too easy to splash all our highways with chemicals so as to cut down on the growth. That would be a pity... and, quite frankly, probably a sin.