Petunias Stink

As I watered my flowers this morning, my olfactory nerves were assaulted with a pungent smell. Petunias.  I knew when I planted them, that their odor was not pleasant. But their blooms are so colorful and plentiful that I used them in my planter anyway.  

To offset the petunia problem, I planted a lot of alyssum.  They emit a very subtle, sweet fragrance. Sometimes the petunias win.  

And mixed in with other flowers I placed some ivy.  No fragrance or flowers involved.  From a distance, the montage is very pleasing.  

But as the spray from my hose dampened my creation, my thoughts turned to people.  

I know some petunias.  Don’t you? I call them “high maintenance”. And yet many times they have a valuable characteristic, such as a creative mind.  Even though they are difficult to deal with, they may be very good at computers.    

Do we need petunias in our garden?  

I know quite a few alyssum people.  Their loving and caring ways give off a very sweet fragrance.  They are a pleasure to be around.  Yet these are the very same people who get walked on by petunias. Sometimes I just want to come to their defense.  Yet it would go against their belief system to confront another.  

 

I know I need alyssum in my garden.  

And the ivy? It’s just there.  No fragrance.  No blossoms.  Just a filler.  

I have some ivy in my life.  They have no desire to achieve.  Life just happens to them.  And I struggle to understand their usefulness.  I know they have value.  God says so. 

And so, I look for a quality I can appreciate.  

“What is the price of two sparrows – one copper coin?  But not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it.  Matthew 10:29 (NLT)