The Sunday Sermonette – Kudzu, A Metaphor for Life.
One summer long ago, my sweet Granny and I piled into her old 1956 Buick Special and rode to Vossburg, Mississippi, to visit my Great-Great-Aunt Lucile. She lived on a vast farm with her husband and son, which I’ve written about in times past.
During this little adventure, I was introduced to kudzu, humorously referred to as the Vine that Ate the South. Its ravenous climbing vines cover everything—trees, houses, barns, and telephone poles—with a beguiling green ceiling that is pretty but deadly. That leafy green ceiling blocks out sunlight, smothering everything beneath it.
Kudzu was first introduced to the United States via the Japanese Pavilion at the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. There, it was touted as a great ornamental plant due to its sweet-smelling blooms and lush vines. The vine was brought to the South during a time when the soil was barren and erosion was rife.
Kudzu’s ability to enrich the soil and grow in the most challenging situations made it a win-win situation. Once the soil was restored, however, people attempted to kill the kudzu but failed to do so. As long as it was treated with care, it wasn’t a problem. Failure to do so was.
The “kudzu” in our lives is problematic, as well. Once it takes root, it’s as fast-growing and tenacious as the Vine that Ate the South. We’ve all known family and friends who were smothered by the evil vines of drugs and alcohol. Kudzu can wrap itself around marriages, too, paving the way for divorce and broken homes. Its creeping tendrils are proficient at twisting people’s hearts, triggering hate and deceit. Once inside someone’s mind, the vines can blur what is right and wrong, leading to a life of debauchery and decadent living.
“Kudzu” is proficient at Kidnapping both young and old. It’s Ugly because it suffocates. It’s Destructive because it destroys. Its Zeal fuels an insatiable appetite for more, more, more. And if not kept in check, it’s Uncontrollable, growing like a virus and refusing to die.
The USDA Forest Service states that herbicides and prescribed burning are required to eradicate kudzu. For complete eradication, every kudzu plant must be killed. Failure to do so allows any surviving plants to reappear, growing into another creeping, green monster.
Dear ones, in our urgent battle against the “kudzu” in life, remember it’s always lurking, growing, and trying to destroy you. Train to fight it by spraying the eradicating herbicide of wisdom that comes from Father God, as He teaches us from the Bible.
When the prescribed burn waters the eyes and chokes the throat, please remember that Jesus and Father God will be your refuge during it. When your soul cries out due to the anguish of life, they are near. They hear. They will respond. Constantly seek the strength that only comes from them.
Kudzu may be the vine that ate the South, but kudzu’s twisting vines in our lives can be kept at bay. When they appear, spray them, burn them. And never give up the fight.
Ponder this and go forth.